The Adventures of Insanity
by Serene Death
Summary: Squall Leonhart is Yuffie's boss at a pharmacy. Yuffie likes Squall, but thinks he hates her. When the two are forced to live together, what changes? [Squiffie, Clerith, Rikora, and Zemyx] [KHII:AU]
1. Zemyx Germs

Sorry, but there's Kairi-bashing in here. Haha. XP But not too much...just...um...a few times. Meh, w/e.

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**Chapter One**

Let me just say this first thing: I work with hot guys. Very, VERY hot guys. Unfortunately...

They're all homosexual.

Damnit!! Why can't anybody be hot and...not gay?! It's like I'm walkin down the street, and this guy walks past me and I'm thinking 'he's hot!' and then his boyfriend comes out and gives him a mocha-whata and a kiss and I just sob and walk away. -Insert long sigh-

Well, okay, not _every_ guy I know is gay. _Two_ that I know aren't..I think:

Squall Leonhart and Cloud Strife...

Although really, Cloud's taken by an extremely scary and possessive Aerith, and Squall's a straight-up ass...Haha. I just got that--whoops, getting off subject again. I mean, I know tons of guys: Squall, Cloud, Sora, Riku, Roxas, Axel, Zexy, Demyx, Gramps--erm, Cid, um...oh yeah, and Vincent and Reno.

Sora? Gay--but soooo cute!! I mean, he's adorable and everytime I see him I just wanna hug him and pinch his cheeks and go 'AW!'  
Riku? Gay--DEFINITELY GAY. I mean, from the way he oggles Sora you _would_ think that Sora would've gotten a clue earlier than he did...But then again, this _is_ **Sora** we're talkin bout, so...I guess it's a miracle he got it at all. Not that Sora's dumb or anything, he's just very...erm, ignorant? Oblivious? Yeah, let's go with that one...  
Roxas? Gay--Sora and Cloud's younger brother...And he's also very, VERY sensitive...the kid goes into tears if you push him once and call him a jackass for dropping your ice cream cone...or maybe I was just a little harsh that time...I AM known to be evil...at times..depending on who you ask, that is. He's also friggin molestable. I'm surprised he doesn't get jumped on his way to school...  
Axel? Gay--A fellow pyromaniac. Axel's a bit...erm, odd...he's also Roxas's boyfriend, and...hehe, the pair just looks so cute together!! A tall, really hot red-headed pyro and a not-so-tall sandy-haired, cerulean-eyed sensitive kid...Not your common couple.  
Zexy? Bi--YAY! Oooof course, he's dating Demyx and I have no chance at all -insert tears- but yeah. Zexy has nice hair...I don't know what he uses in it, but his hair is soooo soft!! It's like a fluffy purple cloud...HAHA. He would kill me if he found out I said that...  
Demyx? Oh GOD, GAY!!! Demyx is probably the girliest person I know. He's sweet and fluffy, but he's just so girly...I tell Demyx ALL of my secrets, even the one including my crush on--oops.  
Gramps--CID!! I SO SAID CID!!--Well DUH he's straight!! But he's like...the age of my great-grandpa!!--erm, Grandpa...HA.  
Reno? I think he's straight...I think.  
Vincent? He's definitely straight. But then again, Vincent's the one I live with, and he practically raised me, so...ew. I think...erm...  
Cloud? Straight...but like I said earlier, Aerith has had an iron-death-grip on him ever since he disappeared last year and mysteriously came back.  
And finally, the enigma of all **e** _n_ i **g** _m_ a **s**,

SQUALL. He's straight...but he'll NEVER like me. EVER...-drowns in emoness-

So, as you just read from my hand-dandy list of hot guys that will NEVER go after me, I work with a lot of hot guys...

Except they're all gay. Or bi...Except for Gramps--I MEAN CID, DAMNIT!!--he's too old...and he's rude!! I mean, jeez, you pop a firecracker just _three times_ in his face and he all of a sudden goes nutzo and starts callin ya 'fuckin brat!!' RUDE! RUDE I TELLS YA, RUDE!!

And except for Squall, because, I mean, he just hates me. Or somethin like that.

* * *

I heard my name being said by a stoic and expressionless voice. 

"Yuffie, wake up."

"Two more..."

"Yuffie, wake up."

"Two more..."

A sigh.

"Two more minutes?" Hell no! Like that was going to be enough time for me to get rest!!

"Two more _days_," I groaned, leaving my head on my pillow as I suddenly felt the blankets jerked off of me. I yelped. "COLD!!" I hissed, sitting up and blindly scratching around for the blankets. "Blankets!" I whimpered. Why have you forsaken me, blankets?!

"They're on the floor, Yuffie," Vincent said dryly. I rubbed at my eyes, brushing my ebony hair away from my face, yawning. I got up from my bed, taking one step forward...Aaaand falling, because my legs got tangled in the mess of down comforters and shizz.

"I wonder what you're going to do when I'm dead," Vincent sighed, reaching down and clamping one pale, strong hand on my arm as he yanked me up. I yawned loudly.

"You're not going to get to be the first one to die," I replied as Vincent raised an eyebrow. I could hear the thought in his head already: _When did dying become a competition?_

Vincent shook the thought out of his head and checked his watch, sighing.

"We're sixteen minutes late," he commented.

"Well, if we're late, I might as well take my sweet, sweet ti--"

"Either you hurry up, or you're goin out in the outfit you're wearing right now," Vincent said emotionlessly.

"That's not gonna be so--" I looked down to what I was wearing: a pair of panties and a camisole. "EEK! GET OUT YOU PEDOPHILE!" I screeched at him. Then I kicked him out of my room.

"Yuffie! Hurry up unless you want me to come in there and drag you out!" Vincent said from outside the door.

"Fine, FINE!" I huffed, pulling my shorts on while simultaneously brushing my teeth. "Don't get your panties in a twist," I muttered.

A pause. Then, "I heard that," the voice from outside my door said. I shivered. Vincent could cause hypothermia with just his voice if he wanted to...

Unfortunately, Vincent barged in just as I was taking off my camisole, and I ended up literally kicking him in the balls and pushing him out the door.

He was silent to me for the rest of the morning.

* * *

"Vincent," I began. 

"Don't talk to me," he growled back as I winced.

"I'm sorry! It was an automatic reaction!!" I protested. He winced.

"It's an automatic reaction to kick me in the--"

"Well, I mean, at least you know that I'm well-prepared to fight any danger heading my way!"

"No danger's gonna head your way, Yuffie," Vincent said dryly. "If anything, _you're_ the danger."

"I said sorry," I huffed, pouting. I gave him the signature Yuffie-pout as Vincent sighed.

"Alright, alright. I forgive you. But if you ever do it again..."

"I won't!!..."

Thankfully, he didn't notice my fingers crossed behind my back. After all, who knows? He may walk in on me again, and what am I gonna do? Poke him to death? I THINK NOT!

Yuffie Kisaragi does NOT poke people to death!...Erm, not to death, at least...

* * *

Cloud had his arms crossed and was waiting for us at the entrance of the store. 

"You guys are--"

"Yeah, yeah," I said lazily, flapping my hand as I proceeded to walk through the automatic sliding door thingies and ignore Cloud. I could hear his thoughts now, trying not to kill me...Good luck with that! HA!

As soon as I walked in, I already saw Axel practically shoving his tongue down Roxas's throat, and Riku hitting on Sora.

ARGH! DAMNIT! If you guys are already dating, don't rub the fact that you have someone in my face!! MEANIES!

"Late again, I see," someone said. I knew that voice. It was the source of all EVIL! SOURCE OF ALL EVIL! I pulled out one of my metal shurikens, about to toss it at him, when Vincent called from outside,

"Don't throw your metal shurikens at Leon, Yuffie. I didn't buy you those so you could kill people with them."

"You bought them for me because you caved in, Vin-o-poo!" I replied back, grinning. Then I turned towards Leon. "Nice to see ya, too, _Squallie_!"

I knew how much it annoyed him: the moment I said it, his smug smirk dropped from his face and was replaced with a frustrated glare.

"It's Leon." I snorted. We'd gone through this so many times before: I make a smug remark with his name, he corrects me, and I totally ignore him.

"Yeah, sure."

I heard the automatic sliding thingie slide open, and before I knew it, Vincent was dragging me to the storage room.

"Grab a box," he said. I glared at him, picking up a box with ease. Hey, just because I _look_ weak, doesn't mean I _am_ weak! I could so own anyone!! Anyone!! ...'Cept for maybe Squall...and Vincent...because they hit hard...

As I walked towards the shelves, Axel extracted himself from Roxas and turned to grin at me.

"Yuffie, isn't that a little...weird to be wearing that during work?"

"Are you trying to give me self-esteem issues?!" I accused playfully. The pyro rewarded my accusation with a frustrated sigh.

"No, Yuffie, I'm _not_ trying to give you self-esteem issues."

"Because, ya know, I feel perfectly good in this outfit!" Oookay, so I _was_ wearing a green tank-top with blue buckles for straps, and I _was_ wearing short-shorts with a huge blue belt wrapped around it, and I _was_ wearing a pair of fishnet gloves that went up to my elbows, and a pair of big orange gloves on top of those that went up to my wrist, and I was wearing long socks that went up to almost beneath my shorts, but just a little lower so that a teensy bit of skin showed, and YES, I _was _wearing huge orange shoes. And yes, finally, I _was_ wearing a long yellow scarf even though it was in the middle of July.

I liked my sense of fashion. It was unique. (Or, as Vincent and Squall call it, 'freakin weird.')

And as I was stocking the shelves (oops, I work at a pharmacy. Yeah, I get paid minimum wage. Damn Cloud!!), I heard the squeal that signified evil.

Kairi!

Dun dun duuuuun...

"Sora!" she said in that overly-squeaky voice, and practically forced herself onto him as she gave him a bear-hug. Well, okay, I don't dislike Kairi, she's just...kind of annoying. She doesn't really approve of Sora and Riku's relationship because she thinks it's 'immoral', but I think she just wants cuddly-wuddly wittle Sora all to herself. But meh, not my business...

Oh yeah, and there is that itty bitty minor fact that she once hit on Squall, but, I mean, whatever...

Okay! Okay! So I have a teensy, tiny crush on Squall, BIG FRICKIN DEAL! I mean, he's my boss! Well, okay, Squall and Cloud both own the pharmacy...Originally Aerith owned it, but she gave her share to Squallie, so...Yup. He's meh boss.

I swear, it's a living hell when your bosses both hate you. Well, Cloud doesn't _hate me-_hate me, but Squallie--man, that guy would kill me if he could.

As Kairi was talking to Sora and Riku, I heard a laugh and a muffled moan in the back. Wincing, I walked over and opened the door to the employee lounge, only to see a half-naked Demyx under a half-naked Zexion. Hey, well, whaddya know? Zexion's the Seme!! Ha!

"EW! DON'T DO IT ON THE COUCH! THAT'S WHERE I TAKE MY NAPS!" I exclaimed. Zexion's eyes snapped upwards.

"Where else do you want us to do it? On the floor?"

"Well...I mean..." I said. "Yeah...because...ARGH! I sleep on that couch!" Zexion smiled wickedly, while Demyx just blushed.

"This isn't our first time on this cou--"

"EWWWWWW!" I started running around frantically, trying to wipe off the imaginary Zemyx germs. Before I ran out, however, I had enough decency to say, "Oi, by the way, you might _not_ wanna do it where people can walk in at anytime."

"Yuffie, you have Zemyx germs," Zexion responded calmly. He wanted me out.

"EW!" And I ran out of there. A second later, I was asking Vincent to dump any kind of hand sanitizer on me. He refused to. I hit him.

* * *

"Break time, you guys," Riku said as my stomach grumbled. 

"Good, cause I am STARVING!" I cheered, preparing to run out, when Squall stopped me by yanking on my yellow scarf and practically suffocating me.

"Do you WANT me to die?" I mentally did a faceplant. Stupid question. Squall snorted.

"I wish," he muttered, "It's not break time, yet. We still have two aisles to stock."

"But I'm hungry!" I protesed. Squall shrugged. _Damn him and his not niceness and his shmexiness--HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, YUFFIE!_ I warned myself. Yeah, I had a crush on him, but it's not like he would ever get with me, right? To quote, I am just 'a stupid nineteen year old who is hyperactive and dumb.' That's what he said to me once, and I'll never forgive him! EVER!

...But when I stomped off he bought me ice cream, and all was forgiven. That was...what, three days ago? Hehe.

"Where's Reno?" I asked suddenly, looking around. The redhead was nowhere to be seen.

"He took a sick day," Cloud replied. I glanced at Riku, who just shrugged.

"He's probably too lazy to come and he's reading porno at home right now," I muttered. Sora burst out laughing, and Roxas just sighed.

But deep inside, they KNOW I'm right...heh heh heh...

My stomach rumbled again.

"I'm hungry!! Squaaalliiiieee! Give us a break, will ya?!" He had an irk mark on his forehead.

"No." I latched onto his shirt, tugging.

"Pleaasseee?" He gave a frustrated sigh. Did Squall really dislike me _that much?_

"Yuffie..." he said in an annoyed tone, "I can't let you off!"

Answer? Yes. YES YES YES. I think the man would kill me if it wasn't illegal...

"PLEASE?!" I whimpered, giving him the Yuffie Face. He resisted for one second.

Two seconds...

Three seconds...

Then, a sigh. "Fine."

"YAY!" I cheered, tackling Squall and giving him a hug even though he absolutely hates my guts!

Okay, so he's not a totally bad guy.

But still, it's not like I'm ever going to get with him...Right?

* * *

Haha! Hope you liked it!


	2. Mr Sunshine and Yaoi Fangirls

Hehe. :3

**DISCLAIMER:** ...Honestly, can you even ASK me that?

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**Chapter Two**

"You're joking, right?"

"No, Yuffie, I'm not."

"But...I...I can't live with...you know!! _HIM_ for a month!! Do you realize the pain that's going to cause me?!" Vincent shot me a glare.

"Yuffie, I _have_ to go on this trip. Tifa needs my help with moving, and besides, I haven't been to my hometown in a long time."

"But...But...He's going to abuse me!" I whined, stomping my foot. Okay, yeah, I was acting like a four-year-old. Don't remind me.

"Yuf, I have a feeling that you're going to abuse _him_ more than he '_abuses_' you," Vincent replied bluntly. I don't GET it. This was the man that saved my life when I was only six-years-old from the 'Heartless' gang, and this was the man that had raised me up, despite the fact that he didn't know _anything_ about girls. This was the man that had gone out to buy frickin _pads_ for me because I was too embarassed, and NOW he was telling me he was going to DITCH me with _HIM_ for a month?!

"But...But..." I gave him the Yuffie-pout. He blatantly ignored it. "I'm old enough to take care of myself!" I yelled, walking over to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Unfortunately, I tripped on _air_ or something on the way there, and I landed flat on my ass. _Smooth, Yuf, real smooth._

Vincent, apparently, was thinking the exact same thing. "Smooth move, Yuffie. I'm not leaving you alone. The last time I did that, I came home to the fire department rushing over to my house." Oooh yeah. There was that one little incident with the lighter and a gas stove.

"That was ONE time!!" I protested.

"Yuffie, that happened _four_ times. You're staying with him, and that's final."

"Why can't I stay with Sora, or-or Riku, or-or--"

"Alright, Sora and Riku can't stay in the same room without doing _something_ to each other. Same goes with Axel and Roxas. Demyx is too busy working two jobs, and Zexion is trying to work on his book!"

"What about...emmm...Cloudy? Or Aerith? Or...uhh, RENO?!" Oh man, _Reno?!_ That was definitely a sign I was desperate. "...Even Cid?" I begged.

"Cloud and Aerith are going on their honeymoon soon, and Reno...well..." Vincent glanced at me, and I sighed. Yeah, yeah, Reno would just read porno the entire time... "And I don't want you hanging around Cid because of his lack of control."

"Lack...of...OH." Last time when Cid was here cooking, he ended up getting so frustrated that he blew up the entire kitchen accidentally with a wrench, two matches, and the gas stove. That poor, poor stove. Vincent walked over, giving me a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead.

"I have to go, Yuffie. He's coming over here at three, okay?"

"VINCCEEENNNTTT!" I whined. He winced.

"Yuffie, you're staying with Leon, and that's **final. **It's a wonder I even got him to accept."

And then Vincent left, leaving me to the soon-to-be clutches of Mr. **Sunshine...**(a.k.a. total sarcasm).

* * *

_Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock. Tick--FOOM!_

"DIE, CLOCK, DIE!" I yelled as the little plastic clock began to burn and melt slowly in the fire that I chucked it into. The last thing I needed was a reminder that my boss, crush, and all-over jackass of a 'friend' was coming over to frickin _babysit _me--

_Knock. Knock._

Well, speak of the scary-ass devil. "...Maybe if I just lie low and don't talk he'll go away," I said softly to myself, and began to use my awesome ninja skillz to walk to my bedroom door, when **Mr. Smiley himself** kicked the door open with his foot. He was dressed in all leather like usual, but for some reason he seemed a _lot_ better looking. _Damn_ him, looking all sexy, and here I am, looking like shit!

"Oh. Heh heh heh. Hey Squallie! I wasn't sneaking away to my bedroom! I swear!" _Smooth, Yuffie, Smooth._

"I smelled something burning, so I kicked open the door." I gulped, trying to hide the now-growing fire of the melted plastic clock. Leon looked behind me, and cursed.

"Shit, Yuffie!" he growled, walking past me as he grabbed the fire extinguisher and blew it out. We had five fire extinguishers: one in my bedroom, one in Vincent's bedroom, one in each of our bathrooms, and one in the kitchen. What can I say? I'm practically obsessed with fire. Leon sighed.

"Jeez, Squallie, you're becoming an old man with all those sighs and stuff," I teased, beginning to walk towards my bedroom. "Alright, since Vin-o already left, you can leave now."

"What?"

"You're not...seriously planning on staying here, are you?" I asked, suddenly stopping.

"Why wouldn't I?" he replied. "I owe Vincent a favor, and...unfortunately he needed me to help him out with this."

"I can take care of myself!" I said for the second time that day.

"No, Yuffie," he said flatly, "you can't."

"But...I won't tell!! I mean, why do you want to stay? You practically hate being in the same room as me!" I said, protesting. Hey, the words I said stung, but...they were true...

Weren't they?

"Yuffie, I'm staying."

And stay he did.

* * *

I had locked myself in the room. This was the worst, **worst** possible situation ever! I was in my house with my boss/crush in the living room watching TV!!!! Vincent! I'll kill you!! 

With a sigh, I changed into my normal outfit and walked out, looking at the clock.

**3:10 PM**

Oh gee, only ten minutes had passed. And here I thought it was an hour later! Psh, I wish.

"Erm...Squall, I'm going out," I said, preparing to hear him say, 'I don't care.' To my surprise, however, he turned off the TV, standing up and brushing his pants off.

"To where?" he asked.

"I'm going to go stripping," I said dryly. Note the sarcasm!

"Where?" he asked again. What was this guy, the Inquisition?!

"Why do you care?" I asked. Uh-oh. I was on defensive mode now.

"It's a simple question, Yuffie," Leon said with a sigh.

"I'm going to the mall," I said grumpily, walking to the front door. Sora and Riku were waiting! ...Well, I wasn't supposed to be there until three thirty, but whatever.

"Be back by four." WHAT?!

"No!" I said, whirling around. "Seven!"

"Four."

"SEVEN!"

"Four."

"SIX-THIRTY!" Dammit! He was winning!

"Four-thirty."

"SIX-THIRTY!" This was, by far, the dumbest argument I'd ever had. Vincent let me stay out until whenever I wanted, so long as I wasn't going out to do something stupid. And I **never, ever** do anything stupid! Well, I mean yeah, I vandalized some stuff before, and we _did_ spray-paint a giant marijuana leaf on the school nearby, but...that has nothing to do with this!

"Four-thirty."

"...Five-thirty."

"Five."

"...Fine! But you're boring!" I shouted, and slammed the door on my way out. What was he, my **mom?!**

* * *

"What's wrong with you, O Great Ninja?" Riku asked as I stomped into the mall. 

"Sqklujdfoiuwj!" I replied. He raised an eyebrow. **Translation: SQUALL'S STAYING AT MY HOUSE!**

"I don't speak Yuffinese." Sora, however, had his mouth wide.

"Oh my GOD, really?!"

"Ssdlkfioijasdfioue!" **Translation: And he's giving me a stupid curfew!**

"You can't be serious!" Sora exclaimed.

"How the hell do you _understand_ her?!" Riku huffed. He was a bit snappy about the fact that Sora and I had a language we both understood and that no one else did, I'm guessing.

"Yuffie gave me lessons in Yuffinese when I was thirteen!" Sora beamed. "She said that Leon's staying at her house and giving her curfews!"

"Niftbbbf!" **Translation: And I have to be back by five!**

"Awww, Yuf!!" Sora sympathized. Finally I sighed, deciding it was time to speak normally. But hell, I loved my Yuffinese. I came up with it when Squall was babysitting me once. I wanted to annoy him, so I started speaking in Yuffinese. He never, _ever_ forgot that night, heh heh heh...

"Let's go to Hot Topic. I want to get Naruto shirts," I said with a sudden happy step as I pranced over to Hot Topic.

"What's the super-big deal about Leon staying at Yuf's house anyway?" Riku asked Sora as his boyfriend leaned closer, grinning.

"Yuf has a crush on Leon!"

A sudden grin spread on the older teens as he looked up, seeing me rifling through the t-shirt racks.

"No, Riku," Sora said, "We're not interfering. If we do, Yuffie's gonna murder us!! This is the one thing I can't do!" Riku glanced at Sora, suddenly dipping down as he pressed his lips hard against Sora's. His petal-soft lips caressed his boyfriend's.

As Riku pulled back, Sora's eyes were dazed. "Yeah okay let's...do whatever..."

The light-haired teen smirked. _The Riku-kiss prevails again!_

* * *

Suddenly, a chill ran down my back. Those two were plotting something... 

Or maybe they were just having fun making out. Either way...

"EEK! HOT GUYS MAKING OUT!" I declared, and suddenly, all eyes turned towards the two as hundreds of girls rushed past me, trying to get a glimpse of the bishies making out.

"YUFFIE!" I heard a distant wail. Definitely Sora.

"I'LL GET YOU WHILE YOU'RE SLEEPING!" Riku. Oh so Riku.

"HAH! I DON'T SLEEP! WHAT NOW?!" Yeah, lame comeback, I know, but...eh.

And so, the yaoi fangirls chased after Sora and Riku, while I, the Great Ninja Yuffie, was left to rifle through Naruto shirts.

When I saw the two again, their clothes were in shreds, and I could see little duckie boxers peeking through.

* * *

Hehe. Thankies!! I'll write more soon X3


	3. AIM

**Chapter Three**

"Slooowly," I whispered to myself as I waved goodbye to Sora and Riku. Curfew? YEAH RIGHT! No man was the boss of me, the Great Ninja Yuffie!!! ...Even if I _did_ give myself a nickname fit for an eight year old. But that's beside the point. It was five in the morning, so...that was close enough, right?

"Slloooowwwllyyy," I hissed, my voice barely even making a noise as I took another step towards my bedroom. Either four more steps, or two quick leaps...hm...

"I'll take the--" Wait...what was that weird feeling on my shoulder? Was someone...breathing on it? I turned around slowly. There stood Leon, hair ruffled, eyes narrowed in on me, and a scowl on his face.

"Boo."

"...AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

* * *

"...I didn't mean to--" 

"Don't talk to me."

"I swear, it was a total--"

"Don't talk to me!"

"...You need an ice-pack or something...?"

"DON'T TALK TO ME!!"

I winced from Leon's harsh tone. Jeez. Okay, so, yeah...I _accidentally_ kicked him in the balls, but jeez, touchy much? HMPH!

"It's your fault for scaring the shit out of me," I muttered, as Leon glared at me.

"My fault?! _My _fault?! Yuffie, you were supposed to be back at five!"

"I was back at five!" I protested. Leon glared at me, wincing in the process. "Just not...in the evening," I trailed off.

"Tch. And Vincent said that this was going to be easy," Leon muttered, more to himself than me. "I swear, Yuffie, you're making this job a lot harder..."

There are three things in life that I **hate**:

**1) Homophobes-** I don't get why people are so afraid of homosexuals, and personally, I dislike those who 'hate them and think that they should burn in hell!' Sure, everyone's entitled to their own opinions, but...

Yeah, okay. So, one time, Sora and Riku were laughing with each other, having a perfectly good time while they waited for me outside an ice cream shop. Then, just as I walk out, this old dude just randomly spits on the floor next to Sora's feet, and says, "You should be ashamed!"

...Needless to say, that fifty-something-year-old man got an entire ice cream sundae on his head, and two slushies down his back. Heh heh heh. I'll teach YOU to mess with my friends!!!

**2) Being called 'Fucking-something'-** Mostly, this just applies to Cid...

**3) Being called, or in anyway implied as, a burden-** I hate it!! HATE HATE HATE IT!! So...

I frowned. That's right, Yuffie Kisaragi, the endless fountain of optimism and annoyance, _frowned._

"Fine!" I yelled. "I was just trying to help, with the whole 'ice-pack' and crap!!" Then, I stormed into my room and locked the door. I proceeded to take a long, hot shower.

_Damn you, Squall!!_

* * *

I came to the conclusion that I was overreacting as I stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel snugly around me. I shook my hair, the ebony strands splaying out as water splattered onto the mirror. Whups.

"Hmmm..." Let's go on the computer!! I hadn't been on that thing in a very, very, veerrryyy long time...a.k.a. yesterday at noon.

As I went on my aim account, a little message popped up.

Go to the Chatroom with:

**keyblademasta**

and

**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu**?

I clicked on the 'yes' tab. Yeah, I know. Their screennames were weird...but they promised me they would get different ones soon.

**NinJasRulE:** hey guys...  
**keyblademasta: **Yuffiiiieee!! yaayyyy  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu:** he got to the sugar.  
**NinJasRulE:** mmph...  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu:** what's wrong?  
**NinJasRulE: **Squall ended up finding me...even though i used my awesome ninja skillz  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu:** what happened then?  
**NinJasRulE: **TT he yelled at me. well, i mean, he said that i didn't make his 'job' easier...im starting to wonder if ths is just another babysitting job...  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu:** thats probably how he views it, Yuf...  
**NinJasRulE: **right...im the only one with feelings...kinda forgot that.  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu: Y**uf, you CANT b emo!! if ur emo, then all of us'll b emo bcause ur our...er...  
**NinJasRulE: **say it.  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu:** do i have 2?  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu: **dammit. fine. ur our frickin sunshine. happy?  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu:** ...Yuf?  
**NinJasRulE:** Ri, im slightly worried about Sora since he hasn't said anything over the last minute...  
**keyblademasta: **im ok! i just...hit my head against the desk and went unconscious for a few...thaz all.  
**NinJasRulE:** riiight. so whats your view on the crap thats my life?  
**keyblademasta: **Yuuufffiiiiieee! stop being all emo!!  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu:** told you. look, Yuf, Leon's not exactly teh easiest person to get along w/...get what im saying?  
**keyblademasta: **Ri-ku's right! im sure that Leon likes you!  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu:** so dont freak, k, Yuf?  
**keyblademasta:** Yuffie?  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu:** Yuffie? YUUUFFFIIIIEEE!  
**keyblademasta:** she prolly fell asleep...  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu: **heh heh heh (smirk) wanna talk about dirty stuff?  
**keyblademasta:** NO!  
**ohmegeeitsriiikuuuu:** ...  
**keyblademasta:** Ri-ku?  
**keyblademasta:** Riiiikuuuu!  
**keyblademasta:** ...fine.

Unknown to the fact that there was basically a sex talk on my computer from Riku and Sora, my hand brushed against the mouse, scrolling the conversation back to the top as I snuggled into my chair. Luckily for me, I had changed into pajama pants and a t-shirt while Riku and Sora were talking...and when I was about to respond, I suddenly just kind of...dropped my head and fell asleep.

"Squall," I breathed softly as I shifted...and fell right out of my chair and onto the floor.

And yet, I was _still_ asleep.

* * *

**_Third Person Point of View_**

Leon stood outside her door, unsure of whether to knock. After all, he'd had bad experiences in the past with angry women...

Tifa had punched him, Aerith whacked him hard in the stomach with her staff, Rinoa--

Leon swallowed the lump in his throat painfully. Rinoa. Ri...no...a.

His ex-girlfriend, the one that meant almost everything to him, yet just suddenly dumped him without a word. He was still confused about it today, and--

And that's what made him into a colder person...

So, bracing for whatever he had to take, he knocked on Yuffie's door. No answer came from within.

_Is she that mad?_ he wondered with a small pang of guilt. Taking another breath, Leon opened Yuffie's door, nearly yelping as he saw Yuffie...

Yuffie on the floor...

Yuffie on the floor with her pajama pants hanging barely on her delicate hips...

Yuffie on the floor with her pajama pants hanging barely on her delicate hips and her shirt riding up to show a nice, smooth, flat stomach.

_Must not have nosebleed..._

**WAIT A MINUTE! She's only nineteen! I'm twenty-eight!!!**

_So? She's still hot..._

**WHO ARE YOU?!**

_You...just the side of you that actually speaks the truth._

**Ahahaha no.**

With that, Leon shut out that side of his head and picked up the self-proclaimed 'Great Ninja', tucking her into her bed as he brushed some stray ebony-ridden bangs from her face. She looked so innocent, so sweet, so--

_Se-ka-saaayyy! Jump her!! I wanna see her reaction!_

**Whatthehell?NowayI'mgoingtojumpYUFFIE!** Leon thought in a hurry, suddenly really, _really _embarassed.

Yuffie shifted in her sleep, her hand brushing against Leon's.

"Squall."

A simple, soft sound...

And yet, the sound of his name from her sent chills down his spine.

Leon gulped, standing up. He was about to walk out, when he realized that the computer was on, and went to go turn off the screen...

when he saw the IMs and began to read them. Sure, he was invading my privacy, but...

Ohhh no.

* * *

**_Yuffie's Point of View_**

The beautiful sunlight was filtering through my clean and clear window as birds chirped outside--

Wait, no. Let's tell the _truth_, shall we?

The haunting, gray light was barely showing through my dirty window as ravens cawed from outside.

Meh, not much of a difference.

I yawned, getting up as I looked out my tinted window--hold on...I never _got_ tinted windows.

_Mental note to self: clean windows!_

...in some other distant time of my life.

I yanked some different clothes out of my closet: a black tank-top with small outlined white flowers on it; a gray, sleeveless jacket on top of that; short tan shorts that went up to some distance less than mid-thigh with black pockets (for my shuriken, naturally) and a black belt; knee-high black socks and shorter olive-green boots that went an inch less under my socks; a black, glove-like sleeve from my elbow to the palm of my left hand; and to top it all off, my traditional headband.

"Whoo!" I shouted randomly, and nearly kicked down the door as I walked out. My eyes strayed immediately to the clock as I winced.

It was one in the afternoon. Half an hour more, and I would have to go work at the happy mart...a.k.a. trap of fiery dooooom.

"Lezgo," I said lazily to no one in particular, as I just about put my hand on the doorknob, when--

"Yuffie."

"KYAH!" I jumped about three feet into the air and my leg lashed out automatically. Thankfully, this time, Leon caught my foot and dropped me on the ground.

Scratch that. Painfully.

"What is it, an automatic _reflex_ to kick someone in the--"

"What are you doing here?! Pedophile!"

"...Right. Anyway, I have breakfast...er, lunch...on the stove. Eat if you want. I have to leave."

He was acting weird: not meeting my eyes, ruffling his hair and turning to the siiiidddee...

"Squuaaalliiiiee?" I asked, standing on my tippy-toes as I continued to inspect him. "Are you okay?" I lifted my hand up and put it on his forehead to see if he had a fever, when he suddenly jumped straight up, barreled past me, and didn't even apologize as I landed on my ass.

"SQUALLIE! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" I roared.

I heard the engine of a car and a quick screeching sound that told me he had left.

"...MEANIE."

* * *

Haha. I'm having a lot of fun writing this. It should be illegal to have this much fun!! O.o


	4. Translation

I know that a couple characters may seem OOC in this, but bear with me because I suck. And because I don't even own a copy of Kingdom Hearts II so I have no idea what kind of personalities they have...I only know that Lexaeus likes puzzles, and that's just random.

**DISCLAIMER:** IF I did, Yuffie and Squall would say 'screw the Heartless; let's make out!' But they don't. SO, therefore, _I_ don't own.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Four**

I angrily marched into the store, huffing and puffing like some kind of demented big bad wolf.

"SQUALL!" I shouted, trying to get his attention as tons of customers suddenly looked at me. My eye twitched. Nosy customers. Hmph. "SQUA--" Someone clamped their hand around my mouth as I struggled.

"Mfphedojfle!" **Translation: Pedophile!**

"Yuffie, calm down," Squall said evenly in my ear. **Translation: Quiet down or I will kill you.**

"Fine. I'm calm," I muttered, glaring at him as I wiped at my mouth. **Translation: You're going DOWN.**

"Good, then. Get to work. You're sixteen minutes late." **Translation: You wish. Get to work. NOW, SLAVE!**

Hardy har.

I muttered an incoherent sentence and stomped to the back, opening the door to the closet to find Riku and Sora.

"OH MOTHER OF ALL THINGS HOLY!" I exclaimed. "FIRST ZEXION AND DEMYX, NOW YOU GUYS TOO?!"

Riku looked up innocently from where he was making hickeys on Sora's neck, while both of them stared at me.

"OHMYGOSHYUFFIE!" Sora exclaimed, apparently NOT seeing me until AFTER I had shouted. I waited patiently.

"Er...We can explain."

"You don't _need_ to explain," I said with an eye-roll. "Just move your sexy asses so I can get my uniform." They obliged, tilting to the side as I slipped my hand between them, yanking my uniform from the top shelf as I turned back to them. "Try not to get everything dirty."

"Yuffie, you are the WEIRDEST person I kno--"

_SLAM._

Riku cut Sora off by slamming the door of the closet shut as I winced from the noises coming from it.

"Ew. Oi! I meant it when I said not to get anything on the--"

"Yuffie, are you talking to a closet?" someone interrupted, as I turned to find Zexion.

"Er..."

"I'll take that as a 'yes,'" he said, shaking his head as I chased after him.

"WAIT! I'm not insane! Really!"

Like he (or anyone else) was really going to believe _that_.

* * *

"Reno! You showed up for work today!" I chirped, happily poking the red-haired man on the shoulder. He turned around, raising an eyebrow as he grabbed my chin, staring into my eyes adoringly. 

"Only for you, Yuff--" I stomped on his foot, making him wince and yelp.

"I hate it when you do that, you pervert," I said with a slight sigh. "Knowing you, you probably took the other day off just 'cause you wanted to finish reading your porno."

"Yuffie, Yuffie, Yuffie," Reno said jokingly, "you shouldn't taint your mouth with those kind of words."

"...The sappiness is murdering me," Zexion commented as he walked by. Wait a minute. He still thought I was insane.

"ZEXYYY!" I whined. "WAIT UP! Look what you did, you pervert!"

"I didn't do anything!" Reno protested as I glared.

"You two. Get back to work." **Translation: You're making me sick.**

"Squallie!" **Translation: I hate you.**

"Yuffie, your break is over. Aisle three needs restocking." **Translation: I hate you, too. Now get to work.**

"..." **Translation: ...You're not supposed to say that.**

I 'hmph'-ed and grabbed the nearest box. **Translation: Now I'm sad. I'm leaving.**

Squall gave a sigh, rubbing his temples. **Translation: Whatever.**

* * *

_I wonder why they're called 'Phoenix Downs...'_ I thought with a slight raise of my eyebrow as I put the bandages onto the shelves. Roxas came by, quickly pursued by Axel as I rolled my eyes. Ew. They were probably playing that stupid 'Organization XIII' game that they invented again. 

...Not that I wanted to play or anything. Psh...

As I continued to stalk, a warm breath brushed against my ear, causing me to shiver.

"Excuse me, miss," the man said softly. I turned around, raising an eyebrow as I nearly choked. Holy shaiza, this guy looked exactly like--

"Er...Hello? Excuse me?" The man waved his hand in front of my face in an attempt to catch my attention. I only managed a blank stare. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? ER, YEAH...Uh...Wh...What do you need, sir?" I asked, trying to regain my composure. However, fear still wove itself tightly into my heart. It thundered in my ears as I steadied myself against a shelf. He looked like...

Like...

_Ansem._

"I was looking for the box of--oh. Here they are," he said with slight amusement as the man reached past me, grabbing a box of Phoenix Downs. He was handsome, I'll give him that--Long, silvery-white hair that framed his piercing red eyes and tanned skin.

"Uh...huh..." I said, my voice cracking. He leaned closer.

"Miss...er, Yuffie," he said softly.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!" He raised an eyebrow at my sudden outburst, and pointed to my name tag, which said 'Hi! My name is Yuffie!' "Oh...Sorry." He gave a laugh.

"Don't worry about it," he said carelessly. "Thank you for your time, Miss Yuffie."

With that, he walked away. I gulped, feeling my hands able to move again as I shakily wiped away a trickle of sweat from my forehead. Ansem. The name still scared me, and I couldn't help it. Not after seeing what had happened back when I was only six.

* * *

_"C'mon, honey, just relax." A voice. Male._

_I was wandering the streets, trying to look for something to eat. Only six years old, and my parents had already been killed by an unidentified gang, I was left to scrounge on the street. _

_"No! I don't _want _to, Ansem!" A voice. Female._

_"Just relax." What were those weird shadows?_

_"No! Let go!" A muffled scream and the sound of someone being pushed against the wall. I edged closer, watching the girl sob as the man--_Ansem, apparently_--began to kiss her. She was unwilling, and my mom had taught me at an early age that 'NO!' always meant no._

_"Leave her alone, you big bully!" I shouted, throwing a rock as it hit him square in the head, making the man fall backwards. He was, evidently, drunk._

_"What the--"_

_"She's seen too much," another voice said softly._

_"Let's kill her. For Master Ansem," the voice said, amusement evident. And then I realized that those 'weird shadows' were people; people hidden, clothed in black. If it was only that man, the girl and I probably could've ran, but--_

_One grabbed me by the leg and hoisted me in the air as I shouted, punching and kicking randomly. Thankfully my other leg managed to kick him in the balls, because he fell downwards with a grunt and I dashed away. The..._things_...continued to chase after me, until I fell and scraped my knee, and started crying because it hurt, and I was afraid._

_"...Are you okay?" a stoic voice asked as I looked up, yelping with fear. He wasn't one of _those things. _I sniffled. He had murky-colored eyes; I couldn't see well in the dark. However, I did notice that he had pale, pale skin and long black hair. He shifted, and then I saw them--red eyes, beautifully crimson red eyes. I liked red. It reminded me of fire. He couldn't be older than seventeen._

_"...They-They're chasing after me," I said in a small voice as the semi-teen with pretty eyes looked up, seeing a couple gang members._

_"Don't worry," he said with as much comfort as he could manage. "I'll protect you. What's your name?"_

_"...Yuffie. Yuffie Kisaragi. What's yours?" The semi-teen paused, looking around for any other gang members surrounding us as he picked me up lightly._

_"Vincent Valentine." With that, he pulled me closer, beginning to walk away calmly towards a nearby house. I was guessing it was his._

_The gang members inched closer as I whimpered, trying to carry the conversation on so that my fear wouldn't reach me. "That's a nice name."_

_"...Thank you," Vincent said stoically, as he began to jog lightly towards the house. More of the members came as he finally came to a stop at the house, knocking on it calmly._

_"You should know," Ansem said, dragging the girl behind him. He had followed us. "That we're the Heartless gang, and that we don't show mercy."_

_Vincent tensed as I gulped. Oh no. I had dragged him into this. What was he going to do? He couldn't _possibly_ be able to--_

_In a flash, members of the gang jumped at him. Whoa. All of a sudden, Vincent was whipping out these crazy moves, dodging and weaving as he quickly attacked._

_Ansem stared. I stared. The girl stared._

_"I'll get it!" I heard from inside the house. A bunch of gang members were lying on the floor, but more were coming, as if they were spawning from shadows. Vincent, changing his attack direction, leapt at Ansem just as the door swung open and knocked me on my head, making me black out._

_An hour later, I awoke._

_"How are you feeling?" a voice asked immediately as I opened my eyes weakly._

_"Headache," I whimpered. The voice laughed. It was smooth, melodic...kind._

_"That's probably because Cloud swung the door open too hard," the voice, obviously female, said. My vision was blurry, but I was able to make out a brown-haired girl with spritely green eyes sitting in front of me, Vincent sitting on the chair opposite me, and a scowling boy with blond hair and beautiful blue eyes._

_"C..loud...?" I asked, unfamiliar with whoever the HELL that was._

_"Me," the blond offered, walking over as he gave me a small, teensy smile. "Sorry."_

_"S'okay," I said, my voice cracking as I turned towards Vincent. He regarded me silently. Then I fell back into unconsciousness._

_Two hours later, I awoke again, only to find the girl in front of me with a spoon and bowl of soup in front of me. _

_"Here," she said, smiling, "I made it myself."_

_This was the first time in three months that I had had food this good. I practically pounced on it, sipping it madly and then asking for seconds immediately. Cloud, who was nearby, gave a small chuckle._

_"Where are your parents?" he asked later on._

_"Dead."_

_"Any relatives?"_

_"All dead."_

_"...Where are you living?"_

_"I have no place to live," I said, grinning as the girl--Aerith, I had learned--gave me my fifth helping of chicken noodle soup._

_"Well, what do we do?" Aerith asked, toying with my short, ebony hair as she raised an eyebrow towards Vincent._

_"We can't let her back on the street," Cloud muttered._

_"...I'll take her."_

_Cloud and Aerith turned with surprise to Vincent, who was sighing._

_"You two don't have any space since Leon's living here, too. I'll take her. I have a spare bedroom anyway."_

_I liked the idea of living with Vincent. He was nice. "YAY!" I shouted, punching the air gleefully. "I GET TO LIVE WITH VINCE!"_

_Cloud stared, looking horrified. Vincent didn't bother to correct me!_

_Then, I promptly sat down next to Vincent, saying one more thing before I fell asleep._

_"You have pretty eyes."_

_Then I conked out._

* * *

"...swear that she's been standing like that for over six minutes, just staring blindly off into space..." 

"...Maybe she went brain-dead?" Roxas suggested.

"Pretty sure that happened a loooong time ago--OW!" Demyx said jokingly, but then yelped in pain as I smirked, satisfied with the fistprint on his face. "Yuuuufffiiiieee!" he whined. "That hurt!"

"Live with it, music-boy," I mused, grabbing at the crate next to me as I began stocking the shelves again, this time with more playfulness as I suddenly tossed a box of Phoenix Downs up in the air. It landed on my nose as I balanced it. Roxas raised an eyebrow, whereas Demyx began to clap his hands enthusiastically.

"Go Yuffie, go!" he laughed, until a hand reached down and plucked the box from my nose, setting it down on the shelf. I gulped, turning around...

Relief washed through me as I smiled, finding Cloud instead of Leon.

"Yay! You're back from your honeymoon!"

"Yuffie, I was back a week ago," Cloud responded to me with a sigh. I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? Vince said that--" Wait...Vincent lied to me?! What...What...WHAT...

Cloud shrugged. "Anyway, I saw...the man from earlier. Are you okay? He didn't try to do anything to you, did he?"

Aw. So Cloud really DID care about me. "No...he just...reminded me a lot of...ya know. Ansem."

"I figured. That's Ansem's brother, Xemnas." My eyebrows jolted up. Ansem had a BROTHER?! "Don't worry, Yuffie," Cloud said reasurringly, patting me on the head. "Ansem's in jail, remember?"

"Yeah," I said softly. "I remember." Cloud grinned at me. Then, it dropped.

"Back to work." Roxas, Demyx and I all sweatdropped.

"Yes sir."

* * *

_BAM._

"DAMN DOOR! YOU WILL SUCCUMB! YOU WILL SUCCUMB! YOU WILL--"

"Yuffie, the door isn't even locked," Riku said dryly.

"Eh? Oh..._riiiiiight_," I grinned, turning the knob as I strolled in, tossing my keys onto the table and walking over to the kitchen. Sora flopped onto the couch immediately, flipping to channel fifty-four and watching Adult Swim. Riku raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend and sighed, shaking his head. "Want food?" I asked, absentmindedly playing with a lighter as Riku shook his head.

"Not from you," he said, sighing.

"Ouch," I said sarcastically, walking over to the stove. "Hm. There's some left over stew from last night if you want it. Squall made it."

Everything halted. Sora suddenly turned around, tuning out Fullmetal Alchemist as his jaw dropped. Riku stopped trying to take the lighter from me (because he was afraid I was going to set his lovely hair on fire) and stared.

"_LEON?!_" What was the big deal?

"Yeah. Squall," I said indifferently, beginning to turn on the heat, when Riku grabbed me by the shoulders, giving me a smirk as he sighed.

"No way you're going to touch the stove, Yuffie." I pouted.

"What are you talking about? Vince trusts me with the stove, so you should to!"

"...Right. And because Vincent's trusted you with the stove, how many times has the fire department come to visit you guys?"

"Mtesdfii..." **Translation: More than enough...**

"Exactly." **Translation: You've gotten to know them so well that we even saw a couple of them at a family dinner.**

"Fine, fine."

"And remember that time when you BURNED a _sandwich?_" Riku began, but I merely rolled my eyes, plopping down next to Sora and I began to play with his hair. It was so soft and fluffy, and stuck straight up even though he didn't use gel.

AWESOME.

A few minutes later, Riku, Sora and I were sitting at the table.

"Itadakimaaasu!" I shouted, and dug in. Sora tried a spoonful, and his eyes grew as wide as saucers, giving me a perfect view of the endless abyss of blue.

"THIS IS REALLY GOOD!" he exclaimed, digging in. "THIS IS REALLY, REALLY GOOD!"

I shrugged. All three of us paused as a door slammed. Leon was home--er, had arrived at my house.

"Yuffie," Leon said. "Oh. You two. Anyway, Vincent called me on my cell. He won't be back for another three months. Apparently, Tifa is getting married and he wanted to stay and help out."

"..." Leon left, and I began to slowly pound my head into the wall.

"Emo mode?" Sora asked.

"Emo mode," Riku confirmed.

"...Should we help her?"

"...Naw. Let's talk about--"

I gave a sigh. "I'm gonna go to sleep and try to drown my anger in fluffy clouds."

"...Riiiight. Sora, that's our cue to leave." Before they left, Riku kissed me on the forehead, and Sora kissed my cheek cutely.

"Byyye, Yuf!" Sora waved, and they both left. I brushed my teeth, changed, and flopped onto my bed.

Then, I fell into a dream...

_Omoidaseba haruka haruka...  
__Mirai wa (wonk uoy naht noissap deen I) doko mademo kagayaiteta  
__Kirei na, aozora no shita de...  
__Bokura wa (__wonk uoy naht noissap deen I) sukoshi dake obieteita_

Three hours later, it was two in the morning as I sighed, not being able to fall asleep. So, I got up, walking over to the kitchen as I raised an eyebrow in surprise. There sat Leon, looking tired and disheveled.

"...Hey Squall," I greeted, not expecting an answer back. He didn't.

"Fine," I grumbled, a bit grumpy as I yanked open the refrigerator door, giving a slight shiver as the cold brushed against my toes. Then, I pulled out some orange juice and grabbed two cups, pouring one for me, and one for him. I set it down in front of Leon and sat opposite him. Strange--he almost never looked like this. "You okay?"

"...Fine," he muttered, picking the glass of orange juice up as he drank some. I smiled slightly, but hid it.

"Wanna talk about whatever's bothering you?" I asked. He was silent. I finally snapped. "You don't have to be so freakin quiet, ya know! You could at least be polite and answer my freakin question!"

"Fine," he said coldly. "No, Yuffie, I don't want to talk about it." My eyes blazed as I finished the orange juice (hey, angry or not, I need meh orange juice) and slammed it down into the sink.

"Stupid Squall," I muttered to myself, "always being mean and crap..."

I had hoped that living together for a month--no, four months now--would at least change something between us. Maybe he could be nicer. Maybe he could be just a liiiittle kinder.

Maybe, just MAYBE DEAR KAMI-SAMA, he could like me, even.

But, of course, that was just impossible with this man.

Living together wouldn't change anything, I decided. It would just make everything worse...

* * *

I decided to just ignore what had happened. 

"Morning, Squall," I greeted as I walked into the kitchen area. I was wearing baggy pants and a t-shirt that said 'I'm a Pyroklept!'

Hey, I loved fire, and I like to steal...but only to flaunt it in other people's faces, heh heh heh...

"It's Leon," he corrected automatically. His voice was an uncomfortable monotone.

"...Right," I said with an eyeroll. Today was Saturday, which meant I had the day off. "I'm gonna hang out with the group today. See ya."

The tension was suffocating, so I wanted to get out. Before I left, however, Leon sighed.

"Look, Yuffie...last night...well...I...uh..." Wait a minute.

WaitaminutewaitaminutewaaaaaiiiittttaaFREAKINminute!

Was he **_apologizing_** to me?!

I stared, open-mouthed. Leon snapped, "If you keep on staring like that, you'll attract flies!"

I shook out of my reverie, giving him a grin. "Hehe. I'm sorry, too, Squall!"

With that, I walked out of the door with a wave.

"...Sorry for what?"

* * *

I think I think I THINK next chapter will have Squiffie fluff...and Aerith spillz da beans!! OHmiGOSH! Lol, sorry bout that X3 Please review! Unless you don't want to . 


	5. Cheesy Romance Novels

**DISCLAIMER**: If I did, I would not have this crappy computer, Leon would be with Yuffie, Riku would be screwing Sora every chance he got, Demyx and Zexion would be handcuffed together, Axel and Roxas would be kissing during that one KHII scene, and Cloud would be with Aerith forever. Bwahahaha!

...My life is **SO** sad. Meh heh heh heh.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_Donna toki datte  
Tatta hitori de  
Unmei wasurete  
Ikite kita noni  
Totsuzen no hikari no naka, me ga sameru  
Mayonaka ni--_

My hand slammed against the cabinet hard as I let out a groan of pain, and fumbled around for my ringing cell phone.

"Where the hell--Here it is." I flipped it open, rubbed my eyes, and mumbled, "Hello?"

_"Yuffie, it's one. Why are you still in bed?"_ The voice on the other end of the line was low, soft.

"VINCE!" I shouted happily. "Are you coming back early? 'Cause that would just be awesome!"

_"No, Yuffie. Remember your half-cousin Rinoa?"_

"...Rinoa Heartilly? Yeah, I do." I didn't like Rinoa. She was graceful, ladylike, amazingly pretty and one of the kindest people I knew.

I, on the other hand, was sloppy, kind of...well, I wasn't pretty--that was for sure and if you catch me while I'm PMSing, you'll be lucky that I don't break your arm off.

_"--ffie? Yuffie, are you listening?"_ Vincent's voice was impatient as I nodded. Then I cursed, forgetting the fact that he couldn't see me.

"Yupperz, Vince-o."

_"Rinoa's going to be visiting you for the weekend."_

"...WHAT?!"

* * *

Leon was cooking lunch by the time I got out there.

"Isn't it a little late for you to be cooking?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Isn't it a little late for you to be getting up?" he replied.

"Mneh," I replied, sticking out my tongue, as I sat down on the couch. "Hey, Squall?"

"It's Leon, and what?"

"Er, my half-cousin's going to be visiting us--me, so you won't mind if she's coming in and out of the house, will you?" I asked, turning around on the couch to look at him. Leon gave me a rare smile.

"No, I won't," Leon said, and then pointed to the table. "Sit down. You start work in an hour, remember?"

"I don't work today."

I walked over to the table reluctantly and sat down, beginning to eat. Leon sat opposite me, and I had a clear view of his scar.

"Hey Squall?"

"It's Leon. What?"

"...How'dya get that scar?" I asked wonderingly, staring at it.

"..."

"Squallie?"

"It's none of your business. Now eat."

I frowned, pushing the plate away. "No thanks. Not that hungry...I'm actually feeling kind of sick," I muttered. "I'm just gonna go visit Namine at her work and then come back...I'll probably sleep then..."

"...Alright," Leon said.

"Hey, Squallie?" I said one more time. His stormy gray eyes lifted to meet mine. I noticed that he wasn't in such a good mood today, so...

"Hope ya have a nice day!" I said cheerfully, waving goodbye as I walked out the door.

I didn't catch his response.

* * *

"NAMINE!"

"Nani--OOF!" The blond let out an 'ouch' as she pried me off of her. I grinned. "Yuffie, you're not allowed to tackle me while I work!"

I gave her a pout, and then grinned. "Blackberry smoothie, extra sugar!" I said, not even looking up at the board. Hell, I had ordered that same drink so many times that I didn't need to even check anymore.

"Ha!" Namine snorted. "No way I'm going to give you extra sugar," she said. "I remember what happened last time."

"Meanie," I murmured, reaching into my wallet as I stared at it. Oh crap. "Namine?"

"Uh-huh?"

"I FORGOT MY MONEY! NOOO!" I yelled, practically sobbing.

At that moment--

"Miss Yuffie?" I turned around, seeing red eyes, tanned skin and that lovely hair.

"O-Oh! It's you!"

I hated how he resembled Ansem so much. The man gave a chuckle, turning to Namine. "I'll pay for her. In addition to her order, could I have a coffee, please?"

Namine nodded, and smiled. "Your total is three dollars and sixty cents."

The man paid. I was still recovering from my initial shock.

"Miss Yuffie, if you don't mind, I would like to talk to you," the man said softly. I hurriedly racked up an excuse.

"Sorry, but, er, I need to get home."

"Then I'll drive you," he offered.

"No, it's okay, I mean--..."

The man sighed softly. "I need to talk to you. About Ansem."

"A...Ansem...?!"

* * *

I fumbled for the key, my hands shaking against them as the keys clanked loudly against each other.

_"His sentence was served, Yuffie..."_

I turned around, as if expecting to see him. I knew that it was a little childish, but that man was one of the few things I was truly scared of. After all, I was only six when I first met him, and Ansem and his Heartless gang had wanted to kill me.

_"Wh-What do you mean, Xemnas?"_

Finally, I got the door open, running inside as I slammed it shut, locking it. Then, I immediately slumped to the floor, shivering.

_"Ansem's out of jail. I...I want you to be a little more careful, Yuffie. I know Ansem, and he won't stop until he gets revenge. But I would also like you to know that I am here, and I will try my best not to let Ansem get you." Xemnas pulled out a badge, smiling grimly. "I'm a police officer."_

_"You won't let him hurt me?" I asked softly._

_"I won't."_

Even though the man had been as kind as to reassure me, I was sure of the fact that he would not be able to help me. Xemnas wouldn't be able to keep watch on me wherever I went, so the best bet I had right now was to stay at home with Squall.

"Yuffie?" I looked up.

"S-Squallie," I said hoarsely.

"Yuffie, what's wrong?" Squall bent down next to me, feeling my forehead. "No fever..."

"N-Nothing," I said, beginning to stand up as Squall helped me up.

"Yuffie, what is it?" he repeated with a little more force this time. I shook my head, not exactly trusting my voice yet as he sighed, gathering me in his arms. My eyes widened from shock.

Squall...was..._hugging_ me?!

Despite my surprise, it felt comforting as I placed my forehead on his shoulder.

"If you want to tell me, just...call, okay?" I nodded.

All-too-soon, Squall let go, patting me on the back as he gave a small smile. "You should go to bed."

It was six in the evening, but I felt too worn-out to care.

"Hey, Squallie?"

"It's Leon. What?"

"...Thanks."

* * *

_The next morning._

"From now on, Yuffie, I want you to stay inside the store at all times," Cloud said seriously, his hand on my head. "You're not going outside to drop off the trash unless Axel, Riku, or Reno accompanies you. Got it?"

"Yeah." Cloud sighed, patting my head.

"You know we won't let him hurt you," Axel said, giving me an affectionate tug on the cheek as I gulped.

"Yeah. I know. But still...it's kind of...scary," I admitted. "And I don't like being scared..."

Sora smiled. "So let's get your mind off of it!"

Zexion blinked. "I finished my book." We all turned towards him.

"REALLY?!" I asked with wide eyes. "CAN I READ IT?!"

"Sure."

He tossed me a paperback novel as I gave a sweatdrop.

A cheesy romance novel. Oi.

"Er...gee..." Zexion gave a laugh.

"I'm just kidding, Yuf. That one's by Demy--!" The blond clamped a hand around Zexion's mouth with a blush and a forced chuckle.

I gave a laugh, looking down at the pen name. Zemyx. Typical.

"BWAHAHAHA! I'M GONNA SHOW EVERYONE! NAMINEEEE!!! ROXAS!!! RIIIIKUUU!" I shouted, running around the store as Demyx chased me, cursing.

"Er, Yuffie? Roxas is home sick, Namine doesn't work here, and Riku's standing right next to you."

The customers thought I was crazy.

Meh. So did the rest of the world.

* * *

**_Third Person Point of View_**

"My half-cousin's going to be coming tomorrow at three, okay?"

"Hn."

"And I want you to be nice to her, Squallie!" Yuffie said, pouting. "She's really nice. I'm sure you'll like her."

_Just please don't like her too much..._

"Okay, Yuf," Leon sighed, "I get it. Don't scare her away, right?"

"Mm-hmm!" the ninja confirmed, happily chomping on an apple. "She's really...ladylike. You know, not like..."

"You?" Squall asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey!" she said indignantly, and paused to stick out her tongue at him. "Well, yeah, I guess. She's really pretty, and smart, and nice, so I'm sure you'll get along with her."

Leon paused. Yuffie had sounded so...strange. Like she was putting herself down or something. Leon gulped, wondering if he had said the wrong thing.

_How do I cheer her up? Or better yet, why do I suddenly CARE?_

"I don't get along with a lot of people, Yuffie," Leon found himself saying, "you're just one of the few."

The look on the ninja's face was enough for him.

Pure surprise and happiness.

* * *

Oookay, well, I changed it. There was a little Squiffie fluff in there, but Aerith didn't really speak at all in this one... Gomen!

Next chapter, Rinoa will appear, and Yuffie's life will suddenly feel emo. NO!!!

**A/N** In the next one, I'm sorry if Rinoa seems a little OOC, but...I just don't like her...not even in FF8, where they blatantly state that Leon's with Rinoa. I just have a natural disliking for her, meh thinks. So yeah. Sorry if she's a little OOC.


	6. Lies to Myself

Disclaimer: Seriously, WTF.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

At precisely three 'o clock, the person destined to ruin my life had walked through my door. Her long black hair had flowed freely down to the middle of her back, and her chocolate, make-you-melt eyes were cheerful. She had been wearing that blue sweater, that Kami-awful blue sweater that shouted to the whole world 'lookit me! I have curves!', and that black tank-top with imprinted blue flowers on the sides and those short black shorts.

In short, she looked way better than me.

I sat forlornly on the breakroom couch, replaying the scene in my head over and over and over again.

_"Squallie, this is Rinoa Heartilly, my cousin. Rinoa, this is Squall Leonhart, meh boss," I introduced, grinning. The two were staring at each other. Staring, staring, staring. I was beginning to get uncomfortable, and slightly awkward, as if I was the third-wheel or something like that. They were still staring, and part of me knew what was happening. _

_Squall obviously loved her or something, right?_

_And...and she obviously loved him or something, right?_

_Because if they didn't love each other, Rinoa, my _dear _half-cousin, wouldn't be running to embrace my crush right now. And if Squall didn't love her, then he wouldn't be opening his arms and embracing her back._

_And if they sure as hell didn't _fucking_ love each other, then when I had asked, "Do you two know each other?" neither of them would've-no, _should've_-replied, "He/She _was_ my fiancee."_

_And at that point by then, my life had fucking hit_ _**rock-bottom**._

"...fie? Yuffie? Yuffie, are you alright?" I blinked several times to see Roxas standing in front of me, waving his hand impatiently as I gulped.

"..I'm fine," I replied distractedly.

"You sure?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. I gave a slight smile, even though it felt a little too painful to.

He loved her.

She loved him.

It was way too obvious, even if they used to be fiancees. Squall obviously never got over her, and hell, my half-cousin was a slut. Okay, no, she wasn't...but she had brought way too many boys back to the family dinners for my liking. I shook my head, sighing as I slumped down onto the table. Roxas was automatically next to me, patting my back soothingly. He recognized 'Yuffemo mode' when he saw it.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

No, Squall was happy. I should be happy for him. Really. Yup...

_I'll just keep telling myself that..._I thought with contempt.

"Yuffie," Roxas said. You gotta hand it to that kid, he was definitely one of those kinds of people where you just wanna pour out your heart to.

"Really, Roxie," I said, pinching his cheek as I flashed him a signature 'Yuffie-grin.' Hopefully he wouldn't see through it. Roxas gave a frown.

"Yuff, I don't want that shit-for-brains smile. I want the real thing."

Damn that kid and his perceptiveness...ness...

This time, I laughed. For real.

* * *

**_Third Person's Point of View_**

"...can't help but think that something's wrong with her," Aerith said quietly, standing next to Leon as they watched her pounce on Demyx.

"GIVE ME BACK MEH HEADBAND, YOU PERVERTED CHEESY NOVEL WRITER!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leon replied with a quirk of his lips as he watched Demyx try and pry Yuffie off of his back.

"YUFFIE! I DON'T HAVE IT!"

"...She's been spacing out a lot today," Aerith commented quietly, letting out a sigh. "I'm kind of worried..."

"THEN WHERE IS IT, WATER-BOY?!"

"Spacing out?" Leon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"AXEL! GIVE IT BACK TO HER! SHE'S TORTURING ME!"

"Oh _shit_! Demyx, you just _had_ to spill the beans!"

"Yeah...and she's officially in Yuffemo mode today."

"Yuffemo mode?" Leon asked, confused.

"Oh, it's nothing," the flower-girl said with a sigh. "I wonder...what's happened that had shaken Yuffie up so badly?"

Neither of them noticed the fact that Cloud was standing behind them both. Cloud put a hand on Aerith's shoulder as the pink-clad woman jumped, and then smiled.

"Cloud!"

"It's Ansem," Cloud said, his blue eyes fixed on his adoptive sister.

"GIVE IT BACK! YOU FREAKIN PYRO!"

"LIKE YOU'RE ONE TO TALK, MS. I-SET-MY-FREAKIN-HOUSE-ON-FIRE!"

"IT WASN'T THE HOUSE, IT WAS THE KITCHEN!"

"IT DOESN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE!"

"He's served his term..." Leon blinked. So _that's_ what had gotten her so scared. "We're all kind of trying to...you know, stay around with her as much as possible," Cloud sighed, running a hand through his sunny blond spikes. "None of us really want to leave Yuffie alone...not with that freak prancing around..."

"YOU ARE ALL EVIL! EEEVVILLL!"

"HOLD IT, YUFFIE, PUT THE SHURIKEN BACK IN YOUR POCKET!" Sora, Riku, Roxas and Zexion were all laughing, tackling Yuffie and taking her shurikens away. Yuffie began to chase them, cursing.

Aerith seemed to be digesting the information still. "Ansem? He's _out_?! Why didn't I know this earlier?"

Cloud blinked. "Yuffie didn't want anyone to worry about her."

"Okay, well, that's definitely _one _reason..." Aerith said, "but I get the feeling that it isn't just that...Has anything happened recently, Leon?"

A full-on smile came onto Leon's face. One that Aerith, Cloud or anyone else, in fact, hadn't seen in a long time. One that usually only _Yuffie_ could draw out with much teasing and coaxing. "Rinoa's back."

* * *

**_Yuffie's Point of View_**

Torture.

It was torture. It was worse than the Chinese Water Torture, where they would let water drip on your head slowly until you went mad.

It was worse than reading that one book about zombies, where in countless times humans went mad from hearing the zombie moans and committed suicide.

Oh, this was so much worse than all of that.

"Why did you leave me?" Leon asked in a dull tone, but I could tell that he was really waiting for an answer. THE answer. I was currently leaning on my door, slumped against it, eavesdropping.

ER, I mean...I was...reading! Yeah, reading...while leaning against my door...and listening in on their conversation...

"I'm sorry, Squall," my cousin said in that melodically soothing voice. "My...My parents didn't accept our engagement, and..well..."

_Bullshit_, I thought with fury. My uncle and aunt were the most open-minded people I knew. Rinoa probably had run off to date that guy, Seifer, instead.

I had to admit though: it was strange to see the usually stubborn Squall Leonhart accepting her answers so freely. It was strange to hear him say, "You could have at least told me."

He really believed her, didn't he?

I cursed at myself. I should've known. Rinoa always flashed her fancy engagement ring around when I was fifteen, talking about what a 'young lady' she was.

_"Oh, Yuffie, he's just the best!"_

But I hadn't known back then that her fiancee was my future crush.

"I know, but...but they didn't want me talking to you, either!"

Oh, she was good, real good. Rinoa had taken acting lessons from when she was four to fourteen. She was good when it came to making up sob-stories, and even better when making people believe them. A knock on my door jerked me out of my thoughts as I yelped, standing up too quickly and hitting my head on the doorpost.

"Itai!" I winced, rubbing my forehead and the start of my nose as I opened the door slowly, finding an amused Leon standing there with Rinoa casually leaning against his arm.

"You okay?" Leon asked, pulling away my hand as his beautiful, stormy-grey eyes flickered across the area where I had managed to hurt myself.

"It hurts," I muttered. _Focus, Yuffie, focus_, I told myself. My gaze momentarily flitted to my half-cousin, who was smiling pleasantly. However, in her eyes, I saw jealousy focused on me. A smile slowly made its way to my lips as Leon patted me on the head.

"It shouldn't bruise," he said. "Idiot," he added as an afterthought. "I can't believe you injured yourself against a doorpost."

"Shut it, Squallie," I replied, sticking my tongue out as I grinned at him. He smirked momentarily, but then stopped.

"I cooked some dinner for you, okay?" he said.

"Where are you going?" I asked with a frown. For the first time, a slight blush rose to Leon's cheeks as he muttered an incoherent sentence and walked off to his temporary room. Rinoa watched him leave, and then gave me a self-satisfied smile.

"He's taking me to dinner, dearest. Now, you'd best behave yourself while we're gone, okay, Yuffie-kins?" she said, tugging on my cheek with another smile.

"I'm not eight anymore, Rinoa," I replied, my eyes heatedly glaring at her.

"Of course not, Yuffie-kins," Rinoa replied airily. "But you're not really an adult either. Legally, maybe, but personality-wise, you've got a long way to go."

"How the _fuck _would you know?" I asked, finally losing my temper. Rinoa 'tsk'-ed me. I felt like taking that 'tsk' and shoving it right back down her pretty throat.

"Why, while you were at work today, Squall and I went out on a date!" Rinoa said, and then placed a delicately manicured hand on her chest. My gaze flickered briefly back down to my hand, which had bitten-down nails and ragged hangnails on the edges. "Oh, you didn't know?"

I slammed the door in her pretty face.

* * *

My house really _was_ kind of creepy. Sora was right after all; it looked like one of those houses that were abandoned, one of those houses that a bunch of crazy teenagers would sneak into, only to find the fact that millions of zombies would come after them, surrounding them, and then eat them. Oookay. Too many horror movies and zombie books for me! 

A flash of lightning shattered the darkness as I jumped, shivering.

_Don't think of Ansem, don't think of Ansem, don't think of Ansem!_ I told myself over and over again, shivering with fear. Instead, my thoughts turned on Squall. _Okay, don't think about him either._

I desperately needed some company, otherwise I felt like my mind would be driven to the point of insanity. Well, at least further insanity, or something like that. Sticking my hand out from under my blanket, I shifted my arm around, finally hitting my cell as I grabbed it, quickly flipping it open and jumping as another strike of lightning raced through the darkened sky. My fingers shook as I scrolled through the phone book, finally finding the person I was looking for. I clicked the green 'call' button, and the ringing began.

"...Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up," I whispered to myself, chanting it as if it would make my fear go away. He picked up.

_"Hello?"_

"Hello?" I replied, my voice urgent. "Er, this is Yuffie. Yuffie Kisaragi. I know this is kind of weird but could you come over to my house?"

_"Is Ansem there?!"_ The voice was suddenly urgent as I winced. I hadn't meant to startle him.

"No, but...I'm kind of alone, and I'm scared of lightning, and you know what? Just forget about it. Nevermind. Sorry for wasting your time," I said, finally realizing how cracked up this was as I apologized once more. The voice on the other line let out a chuckle of relief.

_"No, it's okay. I'll head over right now. What's your address?"_

"Three seven six four, Hollow Bastion Avenue."

_"Stay there, okay? And don't worry."_ I clicked the phone off, and sat in my blankets, slight relief coursing through me. Then, another flash of lightning, and all the fear came rushing back.

* * *

"I know this is really weird...You honestly didn't have to come...Sorry..." I apologized. 

"Yuffie, this is the sixteenth time you've apologized. Honestly, it was no trouble at all," Xemnas said, giving me a slight smile. "It's happened more than once where it's dark outside and someone gets scared. Really, it's okay."

"...It's just that I just met you, and...well, I shouldn't be troubling you, so, I mean--..."

Xemnas gave me another smile. "Really, Yuffie, don't worry about it." I nodded lamely, walking over to the stove.

"Th-There's some food here if you want," I said, and sat on the couch with a sigh as Xemnas thanked me. I turned on the television, watching Tom bash Jerry on the head.

"It seems like something's bothering you," he said a moment later, sitting on the couch as he studied me with his reddish-orange eyes. "Something other than Ansem, that is," Xemnas added.

I twisted my hands nervously in my lap. "Well, my half-cousin Rinoa is here," I began slowly, wondering why in the world I was pouring my entire story out to a person I barely knew. "And...well, I found out...that, well...my boss, who happens to be my crush, is also Rinoa's fiancee! And..."

Xemnas listened intently as I poured out the entire story: my fear of Ansem, my fear of losing Squall, my knowledge that I _would_ lose Squall to Rinoa, and how I felt so freakin emo about my whole situation. At times he sighed, agreeing with me, and other times he just kept listening as I rambled on and on. Finally, after what seemed to be like an eternity, but was probably only three or four minutes, I finished.

"I see," Xemnas murmured, giving a sigh. "No offense, Yuffie, but I'm glad my life isn't as complicated."

"Really?" I asked weakly, sighing as I hugged one of the pillows on the couch.

"Yeah," Xemnas laughed. "My life's okay right now, actually. I have a good job, I'm in love with my boyfriend"-I gave a smirk at this. Another hot guy that was gay. Xemnas definitely made it into my book-"and I don't think it can get any better. But at the same time, I'm a police officer, and I'm trying to catch my _brother,_ for God's sake." I blinked at this. That was right; Xemnas was Ansem's brother. Strange how the two were so different. "Point is, I think you're going to have a lot of trouble coming your way, Yuffie, but at the same time I'm confident that you can get through it."

Tears blurred my vision as I finally began to cry. "But it's so hard watching those two together! Even _if_ she hasn't even been here for an entire day, she's _already_ screwing everything up!"

Xemnas patted me on the back soothingly. "Well, I can't really give you any pointers, seeing as how I haven't gone through this." I smiled. How like him: blunt to the point of being brutal. I liked that.

"Do you have a picture of your boyfriend?" I asked, wiping away some tears in an attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah." Xemnas fished in his back pocket, pulling out his wallet and giving it to me as I flipped through the pictures. The first picture was of someone frighteningly familiar-Ansem and he, laughing together. The second picture was of a pink-haired man doing a peace sign with a black-haired man with sideburns. The third picture was a picture of a silver-haired man with unending cerulean eyes. I guessed this was his boyfriend.

"Wow. He's pretty," I said, and then laughed. "I mean...he's handsome." Xemnas laughed as well.

"He hates it when I call him pretty," he murmured with a grin. "His name's Sephiroth."

I blinked. "I hate to sound sappy, but thanks. For all the help and company, I mean." Xemnas smiled, almost painfully.

"After all the horror my brother's caused you, it's the only thing I can really do to help. And, plus," the man reached over and ruffled my short hair playfully. "You're not that bad, kiddo."

I stuck my tongue out as I grinned at my newfound friend. And then we continued to watch Tom and Jerry.

* * *

**_Third Person Point of View_**

"Who the **hell** are you?" Leon asked, bat in hand, ready to strike at the man that seemed so much like Ansem. Then again, Ansem's look might've changed over his stay in prison, so--

Rinoa, who was standing behind Leon's shoulder, said, "Probably my little half-cousin's _boyfriend_."

The man stood, directing his attention onto Rinoa. "Ah, you must be Yuffie's half-cousin, Rinoa." Leon stood in front of her protectively, bat now hovering onimously in the air. "If you'll excuse me, I must get leaving, now that you are here. I don't want _my_ boyfriend to worry about me."

"Who the hell are you?" Leon repeated. The man reached over to where the ninja girl slept as Leon immediately tensed. "Get the hell away from her."

"I'm getting my wallet," the man snapped. He was starting to lose his patience, but mentally told himself not to injure Leon. He could injure Rinoa, maybe, but not Leon. Why? Because Yuffie liked Leon. "Detective Xemnas," the man--Xemnas--said, holding out the badge as Leon set the bat down.

"What happened to Yuffie?" he demanded. Xemnas found himself losing his patience even faster. Yuffie may have liked this guy, but he was a jackass. Xemnas was starting to believe that this man didn't deserve Yuffie. His eyes flickered to the clock. Damn, it was eleven already. Sephy was going to kill him. And _then_ he probably wouldn't get any tonight, either. Damn Leon. (Couldn't resist myself, X3)

Xemnas found himself trying to explain in the quickest way possible. "I'm the one trying to catch Ansem, my brother," Xemnas explained. His tone was sharp. "Yuffie has definitely been targetted by him, and she called me tonight because she was scared." The detective watched with self-satisfaction as guilt rose up in the man's eyes. "And if you excuse me, I really must get back home to my boyfriend. Tell Yuffie I said goodbye, and that I will call her later."

Leon's eyes hardened as the man walked out, closing the door after him.

For some reason, he didn't like the prospect of Yuffie hanging out with other guys that Leon didn't know about.

Sighing, Leon bent down, picking the self-proclaimed ninja's body up as he slowly walked over to her room, trying not to wake her. _Then again,_ Leon thought with slight amusement, _if I dropped her on the ground she may not even wake up. Yuffie's just..._like_ that._

He gently set her down on the bed and tucked her sleeping form into the blankets, until her hand momentarily brushed against his.

"Squallie," she breathed, and turned on her side, a slight smile on the sleeping girl's face.

"..." Forcing down the sudden fond feelings he was getting, Leon bent down hesitantly and kissed Yuffie on the cheek, ruffling the girl's already unkept hair. "Goodnight, Yuffie."

From inside the hallway, Rinoa Heartilly glared.

* * *

**_Yuffie's Point of View_**

I woke up in my comforting bed. Ah, yes, I loved this bed. It was soft and fluffy, but not **too** soft and fluffy, 'cause, I mean, then I would just sink into it. It's soft and fluffy to the point of being awesome, but firm enough so that I don't drown in the ocean of meh bed. And during the point where I'm thinking about how soft and fluffy my bed is, _Squall's _in here, and he's giving me a strange look.

"Are you just lying in bed for no reason?"

"Maybe," was my vague reply.

"...Er, Yuffie, I...I need to talk to you." I pulled off my covers, giving a loud yawn as I nodded.

"Ready for talkin, Sergeant!" Squall's lips quirked a bit as he gave a slight smile.

"I'm...sorry...for leaving you alone at home last night." I blinked. It registered in my mind that I felt like a total kid. "I...I forgot that Ansem was back on the streets, but...I really wanted to talk to Rinoa, because..."

I cut him off; first, because I was happy that he had apologized; second, because as soon as he mentioned my half-cousin's name, my happy feelings went sour.

"It's fine, Squall."

I saw him eye me with a surprised look. My tone was sharp, slightly angry, and a little sad.

"Yuffie, are you-," he began, but I cut him off yet again.

"_I'm_ fine, Squall."

Lie, lie, **_lie._**

* * *

Thank you to all who messaged me! They're so warm and fluffay...X3 Yay...HEARTS FOR ALL! Haha.

Yeaahhh, my Hikari no Chou is one of my second most-important fanfic right now, first obviously being this. After that comes my hospital fic, and then I probably should update my Legal Drug fic as well, hardy har X3

Thankies for reading! You KNOW you wanna clicky the review button. n.n


	7. You've Got Voice Mail!

I had to reload this chapter….I messed up a part and I stared at it for like…an hour…I don't think I can get over my mistakes, haha… 

**DISCLAIMER:** If I did, Rinoa would be a zombie and Yuffie would pwn her ass with a katana. Bwahahaha! (No more reading _The Zombie Survival Guide_ -By Max Brooks- anymore, haha!)

**NOTES ABOUT YUFFIE'S PAST:** I just read my story, and I thought 'oh crapper this is really confusing!', sooo...I fitted in some parts for it in this chapter. X3

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

_"Vinnie, it's scary outside--EEP!" I scrambled back under the soft covers as Vincent watched me with a raised eyebrow._

_"Yuffie, calm down. I'm here, okay?" A comforting hand was pressed against my back as my eyes slowly met with pretty crimson ones. "The lightning won't get you."_

_"Promise you'll stay?" Vincent cracked a smile as he bent down, giving me a kiss on the forehead._

_"I promise."_

I began spending less time at my house. _My_ house. Rinoa Heartilly, my freakin half-cousin, had managed to get me to stop hanging out at _my _house...

Okay, well, no...technically it was Vinnie's house, but...

"Yuff, it's your turn." I snapped back to reality, picking up the dice as I rolled, dropping it onto the board. "Doubles! WOOOT! WHO IS ROCKIN?!"

"Yuffie, you do realize that you're currently _losing_, right?" Roxas said from in front of me. I stuck my tongue out at him and grabbed the little metallic hat between my fingers. One, two, three, four, five, six.

"Go directly to jail," all of us read aloud as I stared at the board with anger. Maybe it would spontaneously combust if I focused enough of my anger on it...

"Yuff," Axel said lazily from his spot on Riku's couch, "the board isn't gonna combust no matter _how_ hard you try." Damn know-it-all pyro!

"Stupid-ass monopoly. Who wanted to play this anyway?!"

"You," Roxas, Sora, Riku, Axel, Naminé, Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, Zexion, Demyx, and Kairi all answered at the same time. Damn them and their inability to agree with me! RAWR! You will all be defeated by the Great Ninja Yuffie!

"OH YEAH?! Well...I'll rule you at Scrabble! Bring the Scrabble on!"

"Ohhhh, no," Sora said suspiciously, "No, no, no, no. Not after what happened last time." I raised an eyebrow. "Yuffie, you gave yourself a bajillion points last time for using the word 'Zarbeg.'"

"'Zarbeg' is a real word!" I protested.

"Oh really?" Roxas asked with a raised eyebrow. "What does it mean then?" I tried to remain cool, but really I was searching my mind. Finally, I came up with a bullshit answer.

"Zarbeg is an exotic fruit originating from East Asia. It is a light, orange color with red streaks on the sides. Once you open up a Zarbeg, you are bound to find little green seeds inside, which can be toasted lightly with salt or eaten directly with the fruit. The Zarbeg is a very sweet fruit, and most of the time is soaked with water so that some of the flavor can wash away. It is rumored to be the mythical fruit of the gods, and that if you eat it you will grow strong and wise. However, Zarbeg is actually the exact opposite; if you eat too much of it, the glucose from the sugar may clog your veins and you'll grow into a fat, old person," I finished, proud of myself for coming up with something on such short notice. _Score one for the freakin awesome Ninja Yuffie! _I thought with a grin.

Everyone stared at me.

Finally, Roxas said, "That's total bullshit, ain't it?"

"...Of course not," I said, faking indignancy. Everyone could see that it was. "Now shut up, smart-ass, and go grab the Scrabble board. The Great Ninja Yuffie might just be kind today and _not_ own you guys _that_ badly."

By the time I was supposed to get home, I had lost Scrabble six_ freakin_ times! To **Sora**, no less!

No offense, Sora, m'dear, but that just _stung_!

My eyes flashed to my watch. Mentally, I grinned. It was okay. _Only eleven! Whoo!_

I pushed in my key and turned it, slipping inside as I resisted the urge to sneeze, due to the fact that the wind had just smacked a leaf onto my face. Pulling the leafy offender off, I walked over, about to reach my room, when--

"Yuffie-kins? Is that y-"

"ACK!" My leg shot out, and before I knew it, Rinoa was clutching her side, glaring at me angrily. Heh heh heh...

Maybe it _wasn't_ an accident after all... "You...You _kicked_ me!"

_No really, genius..._ "Sorry, Rinoa! It was an automatic reflex! Ask Squallie!" I said, gesturing to Leon, who had appeared behind her.

"You're a lot stronger than you think, Yuffie," Leon said dryly. I resisted the urge to gape. He was taking her side?! WHAT?! Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing as he bent down, pressing Rinoa lightly in the ribs. She let out an obviously fake gasp of pain.

"It might bruise, Rinoa," Leon murmured. I watched her smile, rubbing the spot gently as she sighed.

"Oh well..." she sighed, "Yuffie's really not ladylike. I should really teach her how to apologize..." Rinoa trailed off, looking around. Leon looked towards my bedroom just in time to see my door slam shut with extreme force, making some photo frames drop to the floor and shatter.

* * *

"Jckjs!!" I screamed into my pillow. "Jckljk, jklj, jkljoiwuj!!" **Translation: Jackass! Jackass, jackass, jackaaaaasss!**

What a jerk! He had taken her side and believed her gay-ass sob story! How dare he?! Did he know whom he was dealing with?

My eyes flitted to the dirty, grimy window that looked into my room as I formulated a plan. I didn't need a jacket; it was the middle of summer, when the sky stayed a twilight-streaked color until late at the deepest darkest night. Slipping my fingers under the window and yanking it upwards, I _gracefully_ shimmied out the window.

He was dealing with the Great Ninja Yuffie, damnit! _That's_ who! BWAHAHAHA!

...Ooookay, now I didn't have any place to go. I had just left Riku's, so it would look suspicious if I went back to his house...

Whom else?

One person immediately came to mind, but I really didn't want to bother him. After all, he and Sephy were probably gettin' down right now, and I really didn't want to interrupt that for the two poor guys..._Especially_ because Xemnas had called me the day after he hung out with me, laughing about how Sephy wanted to speak with me. Needless to say, we had a strange conversation, which ended up with me shouting 'BANANAS!' into the phone, and then hanging up on him. Hmmm...

Back to the point, however...

I dove to the side of the house as I heard Leon knock on the door to my room. "Yuffie? Yuffie?" He entered in. "Oh crap, where the hell did that girl run off to?" It occurred to me that I didn't close the door, and I jumped upwards, managing to grab the pipe that hung from my house as I gulped, watching Leon go up to the window, open it, look around, and then curse, leaving my room with a slam of my door. I gave a sigh, dropping back to the ground and putting my hands in my pockets.

My feet pressed against the grass lightly as I followed my heart aimlessly, finally ending up at the place where I had been so long ago. I flexed my hand lightly as I walked up the steps to the door, finally standing in front of the deep mahogany wood itself. I raised my fist, lightly knocking on the wood as I mentally winced. Whoops. Too hard.

"I'll get it!" I heard from the inside. Aerith, most likely. The door creaked open as I blinked. There was my friend, with her pretty emerald eyes and her long, chestnut-brown hair. "Yuffie? Are you okay? Is something the matter?" Aerith said, eyes wide as she looked around for any sign of Ansem.

"Eh? Er, no! Everything's fine!" I gave a fake laugh. Her lips pursed into a frown.

"What's wrong, Yuffie?"

"I...I was wondering if I could just hang out here for tonight? I mean, the lovey-dovey-ness at my house is _suffocating_, so..." I bit my lip. "Nevermind, Aerith. I-I'm gonna go. Thanks." A delicate hand reached out and grabbed my wrist as Aerith gave a warm smile.

"Don't worry, Yuffie. You can stay! I doubt Cloud will mind, so..." Aerith opened the door wider as I pranced happily inside, grinning. "We're watching a movie right now." My eyes went wide.

"OHMIGOSH, I INTERRUPTED _THAT_ KIND OF MOMENT?! OH DEAR LORD I'LL LEAVE IT'S OKAY!" I shouted, covering up my eyes as I walked right into a wall.

"Yuffie, we're not waching a porno," Aerith said dryly, yanking my hand off my eyes. Whoa. Aerith had just said 'porno!' The Apocalypse was coming! We're all doooomed!

"Oh," I said, laughing. "Riiiiiiight." Aerith gave a sigh as I followed her into another room. My eyes went wide. The room had changed a lot since then. It now had a grey carpet instead of a bright white one, and a black sofa sat right in front of the television. Paintings hung on the walls, and I was embarassed to find one that I had drawn when I was little.

"Cloud-o!" I said with a laugh, waving as his handsome blue eyes turned onto me. He gave a small smile.

"Yuffie," he said softly. I gave a grin.

"Wazzup, Spikey? Whatcha guys watching?" I asked, curious.

"A porno," Cloud replied. He had obviously heard my conversation with Aerith earlier. Hell, I was pretty sure the entire neighborhood heard it. Oh, well. Cloud and Aerith could stand to have a _little_ bit of issues.

"Cloud!" Aerith said, smacking the blond on the shoulder as she gave a smile. "We're watching a zombie flick." The flower-girl took a seat beside Cloud, and nodded at me, saying I could do whatever I want. "You could stay the night if you want, Yuffie."

"Really?" I asked, stars in my eyes.

"No," Cloud replied sarcastically, "she just said that to screw with you." Okay, THAT'S IT!

_No one_ talks to the Great Ninja Yuffie like that!

I reached over and put him in a headlock, mussing up his blond spikes as I grinned maliciously. "HOW DO YA LIKE THAT, SPIKAY?!"

* * *

_"Vinnie, who is that?" I asked, curious despite myself. A very pretty girl was standing in front of me, with long black hair and wide brown eyes. "Is she your girlfriend?"_

_Vincent, age twenty-six, gave me disgusted look, obviously behind the girl's back. "No, Yuffie. This is your half-cousin, Rinoa Heartilly."_

_"I have family?" I asked, dumbfounded._

_"Yes, Yuffie-kins," Rinoa said, moving closer to me as she pinched my cheeks. What the hell was her problem? I was fifteen! I had already hit puberty, I was getting boobs, and here she was, trying to pinch my cheeks like a freakin eight-year-old? I felt immediate dislike for her._

_"Please don't touch me," I replied coldly, pushing her hand away. Rinoa let out a chuckle. She 'tsk'-ed me, and waved her hand as if to say 'no-no.' On it, I saw a flash of an engagement ring. "How old are you?"_

_"Twenty," Rinoa replied, smiling. "Oh, you saw the _engagement_ ring, I take it?"_

_"No," I said dryly, "really?" She blinked. Obviously sarcasm didn't work on people that were dumb as shit._

_"Oh, Yuffie, he's just the best!" Rinoa declared suddenly. I honestly didn't care, and I honestly didn't ask. So why was she rambling about this now? "He's smart, handsome, cold, charming..."_

_Whoo. "Sounds like a real winner ya got there, Rinoa," I replied, raising an eyebrow. Okay, so this airhead here was my half-cousin? Psh._

_'Be nice, Yuffie,' Vincent mouthed from behind, as two more figures entered the room. One was a sixty-something year-old man with greying hair and warm brown eyes. He was wearing a grey business suit and a black tie, and he offered me his hand._

_"I understand you're Yuffie Kisaragi, my sister's daughter?" he asked kindly. I liked him. Raising my hand, I gave it a good shake. _

_"Uh-huh," I said with a nod. The woman stepped forward. She was wearing a long, red dress and had sparkling green eyes. _

_"Hello, dearest. I'm Kariyo. It's nice to meet you." I shook her hand._

_"We recently found out you were living here through my...sources..." the man said, smiling. I winced. He said 'sources' as if it was part of some action movie... "And you are Amaya's daughter, so...I was wondering if you would like to live with us."_

_Vincent's crimson eyes flashed. Would he be lonely without me? Even so, I had made up my mind a long time ago. "No." There was no way in hell that:_

_One, I would _ever_ leave Vinnie_

_and Two, I would _ever_ live with Rinoa._

_"What? Don't...Don't you want to be a part of your family?" the man asked, obviously stunned. I gave him a smile, and then stood up, walking over to the dark shadow that was watching this silently._

_"I _am_ with my family. Thank you, really, for your offer, but...I wonder...You knew about how okaa-san had a daughter, but you never chose to look for me until now. I'm not blaming you or anything like that at all," I said hurriedly, "but...Vinnie's here for me, and I don't want to leave him. Ever. He's my best friend!" The man blinked, and Kariyo gave a smile. "And everyone here is taking care of me: Spikey, Aerith, Gramps, _Vinnie_...everyone. I don't want to leave them. Even _if_ it means getting back together with my family."_

_Vincent stared with shock at me. Rinoa stared. The man, whose name I still didn't find out, actually, stared._

_Kariyo stepped forward, giving me a good pat on the head. "Good. You realize what is more important." I blinked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Child, these people have taken care of you. They've fed you, raised you"-here, she looked at Vincent with an appreciative smile-"and they've taught you. It is good to know that you are appreciative of them. Hiro, we're late."_

_They left, and I stuck my tongue out at Rinoa before she got fully past me. Afterwards, Vincent watched me with a raised eyebrow._

_"Why?"_

_"Because I wuff you!" I laughed, giving the man a hug. "NOW I'M HUNGRY! LET'S GO STEAL SOME FOOD!"_

_"Yuffie, I have money."_

_"Let's go steal SOMETHING!"_

_"...No."_

* * *

I awoke from my dream, letting out a bear's yawn as I looked around. This wasn't my bed! This wasn't my room! This was...

Oh, right...

I had run away...temporarily, anyway...

"What time is it?" I wondered aloud, rubbing away some of the sleepiness as I looked around, reaching for my cell phone. I flipped it open, and to my surprise there were three missed calls and four new voice mails. Not bothering to look, I gulped and dialed my voice mail.

_"First message, sent: Sa-tur-day, Ju-ly-seventh, twelve A.M."_ A beep sounded, signaling that it was playing. _"Ri-ku, is this on? It is? Oh! Alright then! Hiya, Yuff! It's Sora...er, I wanted to know whether you're alright or not, because Leon just stopped by Ri-ku's apartment and he looked really...not-normal...er...yeah. Anyway, I just wanted to know if you're safe or not, because apparently he told me that you were gone and that you had run away so we all got really worried about you and I'm wondering right now if you're lying in a ditch because I'm so worried about you, haha, didn't I already say tha--"_ The sound of Riku hissing 'You're rambling!' and then the phone being taken away from Sora was too loud for my ears as I winced. _"Yuffie."_ The voice was deeper now, calmer. _"Leon's severely pissed and worried about you. So get your lazy ass up, call his ass, and make sure that both you _asses_ make up. Got that? Love ya, Yuffs."_ 'Hold on! I wanna talk to her!' was in the background as, once again, the phone was shifted. _"Yuffie! Goodnight, alright? Be careful and shazz. Love ya!...Is it done? I think it's done. It's done, right? Ri-ku, is the call done--"_

Oooh. Leon had obviously interrupted a 'Yay, I get to screw Sora' moment for Riku. Poor, poor Riku... And Sora STILL hadn't learned how to use the damn phone...

HOLD IT, BACK-TRACK! Leon had gone to Sora and Riku's house to look for me?!

_"Second message, sent: Sa-tur-day, Ju-ly seventh, twelve-oh-one A.M."_ Another beep. I was feeling oh-so-popular today. _"Yuffs, where are you? I'm sooo worried about you! Leon came over and practically ripped apart our aparment trying to find you, and then he got near my closet and nearly found our--"_ Demyx's worried (yet somehow cheerful) voice was muffled by a hand. 'She doesn't need to know that, fool!' _"Yuffie." _Zexy's voice this time. _"You're a real idiot, you know that? Leonhart just came over and interrogated us. Anyway, be careful, Yuffie. If you're in trouble, call me and Demyx, you dolt. Love ya."_

I gulped.

_"Third message, sent: Sa-tur-day, Ju-ly seventh, twelve-oh-two A.M."_ Holy shazz this was starting to take up a lot of time...Not that I had anything to do, really, at four in the morning. _"Yuffie, are you okay?! I swear to God, if you're lying in a ditch right now, I'll kick your ass! Where the fuck are you? Leon just came to my apartment looking for you! Did Ansem get you? If that bastard's there, tell him that I,Axel, am going to fucking kick his ass for hurting you! Got it memorized?!"_ Axel sounded so frantic; I felt horrible, and yet somehow his words really made me feel better. I knew that a lot of people cared about me. _"Ax, calm down."_ A softer voice this time, calmer. _"Yuffs, it's me. I'm sure that you're fine, but give Leon a call, will you? The guy was really worried about you. And by the way, if Ansem is there, I swear to fucking Whoever's Up There that I'll stab him to death."_ Damn, Roxas could really pack a scary-ass threat. _"Don't worry, Yuffie. If you need us, call us. Love you."_

Finally, the last one--_"Last message, sent: Sa-tur-day, Ju-ly-seventh, twelve-oh-three A.M."_ I yawned again, covering my mouth as I stretched, falling back onto the fluffy bed that I was sleeping in. I missed my old bed. My old bed was kind of fluffy, but not too fluffy to the point where you sink into it, but it's fluffy enough so that I can squish my hand into it and--

_"Yuffie, this is Leon," _the voice said. For some reason, Leon's voice sounded slightly...concerned...I shrugged off._ "Where the fuck are you? I've been driving around for the past half-hour looking for you, you dumbass!..." _Gee, Squallie. Ya really know how to bring a girl back, huh? Tch. The voice became slightly softer. _"Look, I know that you're probably not really happy right now, although I really don't know why, but could you just come back home? I'm fucking worried about you."_ A pause. Then, Leon's voice became softer._ "Goodnight, Yuffie. Be safe." _My heart hitched in my throat. Squallie was worried about me. He was worried._ "...Call me back when you get this, Yuffie, and please...stay safe."_

I blinked back some actual _tears_ that were forming in my eyes. He was worried about me. He was really, truly, worried about me.

I gulped. Suddenly, guilt overwhelmed me. I would go back tomorrow morning, and apologize to Leon, and...

And then what?

Finally, before the end of the message, I heard a soft, _"I miss you."_

* * *

**_Third Person Point of View_**

Leon's hand automatically went up to his cell phone. It had rang earlier, but he was too lazy to pick it up. Holding the cell phone in his hands, he sat up and rubbed his forehead, across his scar, suppressing a yawn as he flipped it open to see who it was from.

A picture of Yuffie sticking her tongue out at the camera while waving playfully was there, signaling that it had been Yuffie who had left the message.

Leon instantly jolted up, attention now focused on the phone as he put it to his ear, beginning to listen to the message.

_"First message, sent: Sa-tur-day, Ju-ly-seventh, four-ten A.M."_ That annoying beep sound. _"Hi, Squallie!"_ Leon blinked, realizing that he was about to say 'It's Leon.' _"It's meh, the Great Ninja Yuffie! Haha...Anyway, I got Sora and Riku's message, and Zexion and Demyx's message, and Axel and Roxas's message. You really ransacked their place, huh? Find any valuables that I might be able to steal from them? Heh. Anyway...I got _your _message, too, Squallie, and...and I'm really sorry for causing you so much trouble. It seems like the only thing I can really do, huh? Ha! I'm fine, don't worry. Ansem's not anywhere near me, or, at least I hope he isn't. I'm at Spikey and Aerith's place right now."_ Great. The one place he didn't look was where Yuffie was. There was a pause of silence, and the sound of Yuffie fidgeting with something. He could imagine the cute little pout on her face now, the look that usually meant she was deep in thought. _"Really. Thanks for worrying about me, Squallie. It proves that even the cold-hearted Squall Leonhart can be nice! I guess it's just 'cause I'm so rocking that you care about me! HEH! Well, I gotta go 'cause I'm leaving a super-long message, and it might cut me off at anytime. I'll be back by tomorrow morning, I swear. Oh, and Leon? I also really, really miss--"_

"Message cut off," the robotic female voice said.

Leon sighed with relief, rubbing the bridge of his nose again before lying back down on one of the guest rooms's beds. He was able to sleep now, knowing that Yuffie was safe, but the one thing that bugged him so badly...

_Who does she miss?_

* * *

Thankies to all of you who have supported me with meh crappy story writing, haha! I'm not really that good of a writer, so...

I guess I'm kinda thankful...

Riku: _-reads story-_ WHAT?! LEON INTERRUPTED OUR FREAKIN SCREW TIME?!

Rii: Noooooo...

Riku: _-points to section-_ Then what the hell is that?!

Rii: Er...OH! Look! It's Sora in drag!

Riku: _-immediately looks-_

Rii: _-dashes off-_ BWAHAHAHA!


	8. Invisible Tears

**DISCLAIMER:** Me no own Kingdom Hearts I, II, or CoM.

X3 Sorry for the wait, for those of you who were waiting...;;

This chapter is a little more serious, I think...And I'm messing with Rinoa's personality again. I hate her, so I want her to be mean, but deep down we all know that she's all cute 'n fluffy or whatever. X3 Don't worry, I'm not making major adjustments. She isn't going to suddenly become all nicey and non-bitchy. Just...a little different. Hope you like this chapter!

**ONE MORE THING!!** Reno IS a little OOC! I'm sorry...I just couldn't find a straight character besides Vincent (down in wherever he is), Cid (five times Yuffie's age!), and Leon (currently preoccupied)...so...sorry...so sorry.

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

It all came down to this final moment, this horrifying moment. One wrong move, and all the hardwork--all the tears, the pain, the suffering--would've been for nothing. All of it would've just been a waste of time, a waste of space.

_Oh God, what was I supposed to do?_

What to do, what to do, what to do, what to--

"_Yuffie_," a voice snapped, breaking through my thoughts rudely. "It's _Monopoly_, Yuffie, _not_ a life-or-death situation." My eyes traveled upwards, meeting the cerulean blue eyes of a certain blond-haired man.

"Jeez, Spikey, what got jammed up your ass?" I replied cheekily, grinning as Cloud flicked me on my forehead, making me whine.

"That hurt! God, what is your finger _made _of?! _IRON_?!" I cursed, rubbing my reddening forehead as I glared at the offending finger. Oh, you'll get your payback. Believe me, finger! Interrupting my plotting, Cloud shook his head with a sigh.

"Yuffie, shouldn't you be getting back to Leon? It's twelve-thirty, you've already eaten, you start work at two, and Leon's still probably worried about you." Truth-be-told, I wanted to see Squall, yeah, but...

I didn't want to see Rinoa, for fear of me setting her hair on fire, or some other _stupidly insane things_ that I _might_ do...

"Alright, alright...can't wait to get rid of me, huh?" I teased, standing up as I wiped hands on my jeans, brushing some stray ebony bangs from my eyes.

"You have no idea," Cloud muttered as I stuck my tongue out.

"Hey! Not nice!" I laughed, strolling over to the door as a strong hand reached out and grasped the gold knob, turning it.

"Yuffie, I want you to be careful, alright?" Spikey said, bending down and giving me a kiss on the cheek before I snickered.

"Come _on_, Spikey," I said indignantly, beginning to walk forward as I finished my sentence, "I am the _definition_ of carefu--WHOA!" About four places were bruised as I tripped on air, tumbling down the short flight of stairs with an 'eep!' My eyes trailed up to Cloud, who was crouching on the floor, laughing his ass off. "Okay, if anyone asks, you didn't see that just now," I muttered, giving a wave before beginning the walk back to my house.

* * *

I stood in front of _my_ door impatiently as I tapped my foot, wondering what the _hell _was keeping Leon from answering the door. Rinoa wasn't here; she was currently out, since her car wasn't on my driveway. The sound of my sneaker hitting the wood made me start listening to the unusual beat, and soon I was dancing around, laughing crazily. I was singing my own tune, acting like I had a guitar as I strummed it in that rock-star fashion, shaking my head as I fumbled around dizzily.

"Whoa. Maybe twirling my head like that wasn't such a good i..de..._a_--..." An embarassed grin crept up to my lips as I found a very amused-looking Leon standing at the door, leaning casually onto the doorpost with his arms crossed. Obsidian-gray eyes stared back at me. His long, chestnut-brown hair was ruffled. "...How long have you been there?"

"Ever since the triple-axle flip," he replied casually, giving me a grin as I laughed.

"Aw, c'mon, you _know_ that you're just jealous of my awesome ninja skills," I declared, walking into my house as I turned back around, flashing Leon a Yuffie-grin.

"Cloud called me. He told me that you tripped and fell down his stairs this afternoon," Leon said dryly, giving me a raised eyebrow.

"Stupid Spikey...he's gonna pay," I muttered under my breath. "Let's see how you like it when I dye your hair bright pink--"

"_Yuffie_," Leon said, jerking me back to reality as he crossed his arms, looking cross. "Why did you run off last night?"

"..." I paused, looking at him seriously. _"I needed some tampons because my period came."_ A second later, I burst out laughing, kneeling on the floor as I hit the hard wood continuously, rolling around and laughing. Leon's eyes narrowed in on me as he sighed, running a hand through his long, handsome hair.

"I can't get a straight answer out of you, can I?" he murmured, rubbing his scar as I grinned cheekily.

"YES!" I shouted, pumping my fist into the air as I tugged at the corner of my pants lightly. Glancing behind him, I saw that it was already fifteen minutes past one. "No offense, Squall, but see...my manager's a total _ass_, and I kinda have to get to work by two, otherwise he'll-"

Leon rolled his eyes and mussed up my hair horribly as I let out a screech of protest. "Shut up, Yuffie." Uh-oh. Had I overstepped my boundaries? I bit my lip. _Did I make him mad?_ Then, Leon turned towards me, and gave a smirk. "And by the way, it's Leon."

Joy rushed through my heart as I snickered. "YEAH RIGHT! SQUALLIE-POO!"

Leon and I bickered playfully for a while after that. _See? This is...This is what it's supposed to be like..._I thought as I said some nonsense comment back to him.

"Squall? I'm ho-ome!" Rinoa called happily, coming into the living room as she grinned at Leon. He smiled back, completely forgetting about me. I glanced back as Rinoa waved to me. Half-heartedly, I waved back and stalked into my room.

Too bad it wasn't.

* * *

If there's anything to learn from reading this, it's this: _**NEVER UNDERESTIMATE HUGS!**_

At the very single moment I walked through the pharmacy's sliding glass doors, I was _attacked_ by everyone. Demyx and Sora tackled me hard, while Roxas just sort of shuffled up to me and gave me a huge hug. After they let go, I was attacked by the second onslaught; Riku hugged me close, and after letting go Axel practically choked the life out of me with a hug. After _that_, Zexion pulled me close to him and ruffled my hair affectionately. All of them were blabbering on and on at the same time.

"..._so_ worried about you..." Demyx's energetic voice.

"...didn't know how to use the phone, so..." Sora's confused, apologetic voice.

"...swear to God I will kill..." Roxas's threatening, kind voice. (Contradictory much?)

"...can't believe how worried I was..." Riku's concerned voice.

"...stupid, shouldn't run off like..." Zexion's gentle, scolding voice.

"...scared the living shit out of me..." Axel's fiery voice.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, my lovely losers!" I said, laughing. "...I'm here now, right?" Riku shook his head, aquamarine eyes serious.

"Yuffie, you really scared us. If Ansem had gotten to you..."

I bit my lip. Guilt welled in my chest as suddenly, Roxas stepped forth. "Wait, Yuf, don't cry--"

_What?_ "I'm not--" I raised my hand to my indigo eyes, jerking in surprise as a sudden onpour of hot, wet tears gushed down and made tracks down my face. Before I knew it, I was crying into my hands as I sniffled and burst into tears.

"Y-Yuffs!" Sora said, coming to kneel next to me as all of my other dear homosexual friends came rushing over.

_"Waaaaahhhh!"_ Suddenly, I was rocketed back into the past, when I had just turned four and I had burst out crying. Tears never seemed to run out for me. I didn't know why, but I just accepted it.

_"Look at that little child! What a disgrace! Crying out loud like that..."_

More tears.

How long had it been since I had last cried? A year? Two years? A decade?! ...No...

Oh, God, why was I crying? I wasn't _supposed_ to cry, I was their sunshine, I couldn't--I just couldn't...

"Yuffie, why are you--"

"I just didn't want to stay at home, because Rinoa and Squall are there, and oh God I'm _in love _with him!" More tears, more sobs, and those hot tears just couldn't run out. "I hate them, I hate myself, it's just _not fair_! Why? Why couldn't he..."

Axel paused, meeting Roxas's eyes worriedly as Demyx's eyes watered up as well. "Yuf, don't cry! Please--"

_Why couldn't he just smile for me? Just for me?_ It took me a few moments to realize how incredibly selfish that thought was...

And suddenly, a hand came crashing down onto my shoulder as through my blurry tears, I saw reddish-brown eyes. "Yuffie, c'mon. I show up for work for once, and I see you crying? Not good, my dear." With that, Reno pulled me up and gave me a hug as I gradually stopped crying.

"Hey, Reno." Sniffling, I smiled half-heartedly.

"Ahhh, there's m'dearest girl. How are you? You okay? Ahh, stupid question since you were crying and all that good stuff." I laughed a little. My voice was sounded a bit nasally (_is that even a word? oh well_), but it always had after I cried. "You want to talk about it, Princess?" I rolled my eyes.

"...No. But thanks for the offer, y'know?" I laughed, sniffling once more as Reno brushed a tear away affectionately.

"Good. How about all of us go catch a movie later, huh?" the redhead suggested, as everyone paused. Then they all shrugged and nodded agreeingly. "...Er...what movie?"

"A CHICK FLICK!" Demyx proudly declared as I laughed again. Sora stepped closer, peering at me with wide blue eyes.

"Yuffs, your eyes are red, now," Sora whined, poking one eyelid hard as I let out an 'ouch!' Roxas, standing nearby, hit Sora on the back of the head lightly.

"Stupid! You don't poke someone's eye like that!" Roxas muttered, shaking his head. Then, turning towards me, he let out a little sigh. "Sora's right, Yuffie. Your eyes are red; your nose is running..." His sentence trailed off as I raised an eyebrow.

"Rox? Roxie, what's..." Ohhhh, no. He wasn't looking _at_ me with those wide cerulean eyes. He was looking _behind _me. Suddenly, I felt as if I had been teleported into a manga or an anime. This was the part where _Squall _would come in, right about n--

"Yuffie?" I really wished that that was just some guy that had the same-sounding voice as Squall and just happened to know my name...

A hand clamped onto my shoulder. No such luck.

"Yuffie, you forgot this at home. I was wondering--...Yuffie?" Concern was evident in his voice now as I turned towards him slowly, my hands covering my eyes as I pretended to scratch at them. My nasal-sounding voice? Well, there was nothing I could do about that. Slowly, with one hand, I reached out, first touching Leon's warm, muscled skin before working my way down to his hand, where there was a jacket dangling. "Yuffie, are your eyes okay?"

Leon took a step forward (I could see his feet). I jolted backwards one step, realizing that everyone but Roxas, Axel, and Reno had left, clearly feeling that the three boys could take care of whatever there was to take care of. "Yuffie," Leon said, his voice more demanding now, "let me see your eyes."

"They're _fine_, Leon. Just...er, let me go wash them out. An eyelash got stuck in them," I said brightly. Roxas quickly took over from here.

"Er, I'll take you, Yuffie." With that, the boy's soft hand latched onto mine empathetically as Roxas quickly pulled me away.

* * *

**_Third Person Point of View_**

"Leon? Is there something wrong?" The stormy-eyed man had been staring at Yuffie's back for a full five minutes until she disappeared from view.

_Of course there was something wrong._ "No, Axel. Everything's fine. Just...get back to work," Leon said, waving the pyro's concern away. Emerald eyes stared at the man before Axel shrugged, scratching his long mane of red hair before going back to work. Reno, however, wasn't so lucky. Just as he was about to leave, Leon called, "Reno?" The redhead walked over obediently.

"Is there something wrong with Yuffie?" asked the man quietly. Reno, following his stare, shrugged.

"Maybe you should ask her yourself," he suggested. With that, Reno walked away, _out_ of the store. Looks like he wouldn't be working today, either.

Leon swallowed the lump of _whatever-it-was_ in his throat and gave one last glance before walking out.

_She called me 'Leon...'_

_She really called me 'Leon.'_

He should feel happy, right? After all those years of telling the self-proclaimed Ninja to call him 'Leon,' she had _finally_ complied. _Finally._

So why did he feel so dead inside?

* * *

**_Yuffie's Point of View_**

"There. It should be better now." The dark, wet piece of paper towel was removed from my eyes as light flashed in, blinding me temporarily. I blinked several times, a scrappy and touseled head of blond-brown hair coming into view. Roxas glanced at me worriedly. "The redness is going away. That's good." I smiled.

"Thanks, Roxie-poo," I said, grinning. Roxas rolled his eyes, and pouted for a second.

"I told you not to call me that," he muttered, slapping on another wet towel as I yelped from the ice-cold water trickling down my shirt.

"Aw, c'mon! I think it's cute!" I said, finishing my sentence just as Axel swung open the door.

"Why thank you, Yuffie, but I'm gay. Didn't you know that?" Although I didn't see it, it didn't take a genius to figure out the fact that Roxas was now sending his beloved pyro a dry glare. "How ya doing, Yuffs?" Axel's voice was softer now.

"Awesome," I said. I sniffed once. _Euuch, runny nose._ "Nevermind. Horrible. What do I _do_, Axel?!" The pyro stuffed a hand in his pocket, using his right one to tug at his locks of liquid-fire.

"Yuff...you might hate me for this, but...if Leon's really happy, maybe you should just let it go..."

I swallowed thickly. I knew the answer had come to that. "I want him to be happy, Axel. You know that more than anything. It's just...so..."

Shit. The tears were threatening to well up again as I tilted my head back. Thank God for eye sockets. I tilted my head back even further once I felt them starting to slip out. Hopefully the tears wouldn't get past the little eye-shaped hole that I had filled them with. Too late; I felt one streak down my cheek and _plip!_ onto my hand.

_Traitor_, I thought treacherously. Oh yeah. You, along with Cloud's finger, would get yours too. "Yuffie, are you crying again?" Roxas asked softly.

"Of _course_ not, stupid," I laughed. However, since I actually _was_ crying, the laugh came out more like a sobbing bubble. "This is because you drenched the towel too much."

We stayed like that for a while: Roxas touching my shoulder, Axel leaning against the wall, and me not-crying.

* * *

Around three in the morning, something began to ring loudly as I groaned. Shifting on my bed, my hand shot out at the source of noise, hitting it a couple times before realizing it wasn't my alarm clock. I picked up my phone, flipping it open as I murmured tiredly into the receiver.

"Hello?"

_"Yuffie? I am sorry for calling you so late..."_ The voice on the other line was stoic and calm, but I could sense a teensy prick of happiness at my answering.

"Mmph? Vince?" I perked up immediately, sitting up as I rubbed my eyes. "I'm so glad to hear from you! How are you?!"

_"I'm doing well. Tifa and Loz wanted me to tell you 'hi.'"_

"...She got married to Loz?" I asked, dumbfounded. "But...he's a freaky fruit loop!"

_"...I don't understand. He's cereal?"_

"You're too literal, Vince," I muttered, shaking my head as I grinned. Too bad he couldn't see it, though. "So what's up other than that?"

_"...Zexion called me earlier today. He said that you had burst out crying at the pharmacy."_ ZEXION! YOU, ALONG WITH MY TEARS AND CLOUD'S FINGER, WILL GET YOUR JUST DESSERTS AS WELL! RAWR!

"...Don't worry about me, Vince. Really."

_"I did not know Rinoa was Leon's fiancee, Yuffie. I am very sorry,"_ Vincent's voice said, crackling wearily through the receiver.

"Vince, s'not your fault. I still love you, haha! ...Ha..." I swallowed thickly. "Don't worry, Vince. Leon's in love with Rinoa. That's all."

_"...I'll come back as soon as possible. I'll leave tonight, if I have to."_

"Are you crazy?! Get your rest, Vince. Come over as soon as possible, yeah, but...just after your finished, okay?" My voice became softer. "Enjoy yourself over there, Vincent. It must be annoying to have me around you all the time. You should take a break."

_"...Yuffie..."_ There was hesitation in his voice.

"No. Stay there tonight, you hear me, Vincent Valentine? You are _going_ to have a good time and not think about me, got that?!" I demanded. A pause was heard on the line as I heard Vincent shifting slightly. A sigh was released into the receiver.

_"Yes, Yuffie. I understand."_ Another pause. _"Have sweet dreams."_ Just as he was about to hang up, I spoke once more.

"Love you Vinnie."

_"...Love you, too, Yuffie. Now go to sleep."_

There was a little _c-chuk_ as the line went dead. Yawning, I flipped my cell phone closed and found myself staring at the plain white ceiling of my room. "Great," I muttered, "Now I can't sleep."

Getting up out of my warm bed, I opened my door and began the short trek to my couch, cursing several times as my big toe hit several items: the table, the doorpost, the picture frame...(don't ask about that one). Finally I found the couch, flopping onto it gratefully as I yawned, turning on the television.

Yeah. It was one of those nights.

* * *

**_Third Person Point of View_**

A buzzing noise and sounds of fighting awoke Leon as his eyes immediately shot open. He got up immediately, rubbing his forehead tiredly as he stood out of bed, the blankets dropping into a little heap at his feet. Ignoring that, Leon opened the door and began to walk to where the commotion was, but not before glancing at the guest room to see whether Rinoa was still sleeping. However, as he neared the couch, he found a certain familiar lump curled up into a little ball, steadily breathing...obviously asleep.

"..." Leon rubbed his forehead, turning off the television as he glanced down at Yuffie. He touched her shoulder gently. "Yuffie."

No answer. Leon tried again.

"Yuffie." This time, a hand sloppily came out and hit his lightly. Yuffie shifted, her short bangs straying into her closed eyes as she mumbled something incoherent. "What?"

"...MmhphSquallofijfk..."

Something that resembled his name was in that sentence, and now Leon wanted to know what. "_Yuffie_."

"Mm...Squall mmph sorry..." she mumbled again, yawning as she fell back into a rhythmic pattern of breathing. Leon stood there for a few minutes, before shaking his head and brushing some bangs out of her eyes. Then he went back into his room and grabbed the blankets, draping them over her curled form before heading back to bed.

He smirked lightly before placing his head on the soft pillow and falling asleep.

_"Squall...I'm sorry..."_

* * *

Oh, blech, that sucked! -cries- Oh well. -sighs- Too bad! Once a bad writer, always a bad writer, muahahahaha!

---Rii


	9. Chop Off Your Head No, Really

ME NO OWN!

I'm so sorry this took me so long! ;-; But I'm back!! Bwahahahaha!

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

"You're crazy."

"Oh, and you're the epitome of sane?" Reno shot back. I grinned.

"WHY YES I AM! I am perfectly sane!" I declared proudly, placing my hands on my hips with a large smile.

"...said the girl who nearly set her house on fire once," Zexion murmured as he passed by. I shot him a dark glare. _Why you--!_

"I'm serious," Reno persisted, interrupting me from shaking my fist at Zexion. "You need to cut back, relax, Yuf." He grinned. "Which is why you should go on a date. With me." _He really is crazy,_ I thought with a raised eyebrow. Well, okay, want to hear my reasons?

It wasn't that Reno was ugly or anything; far from it, in fact. He was really handsome! It's just...you know, he's that guy that's always hitting on girls and reading porno (although he claimed that he stopped, I know better), so...

"C'mon, Yuffs. It's just dinner and a movie." I sighed. "We can watch a gorey movie that has lots of blood and zombies," he said in a sing-song voice. "And afterward we can have pizza..." My eyes turned into stars.

"OKAY!" I responded immediately, eyes twinkling brightly as Riku passed by. He was carrying a heavy box, from the looks of his attempted smoothness, but nevertheless, he stopped to chime in with a snide comment.

"Careful, Yuffs. Make sure he doesn't try to rape you or anything like that--" The platinum-haired boy was stopped short as Reno thumped Riku harshly on the head, an irk mark on his forehead.

"_Excuse me_, Riku, but I am a perfect gentleman on dates," Reno said, crossing his arms vainly. Riku snorted at this, continuing on and leaving me with Reno. I backed up. "Oh, Yuffie, come on! You don't actually believe him, do you?!" I raised an eyebrow, grinning. "Oh, dammit, you know what?! You...I..." He let out a string of curse words that would make Cid himself balk and left. But not before he added, "Pick you up at eight."

"'Kay!" I called back. Then I crossed my arms. "WAIT, aren't you working today?!" Too late. He was far gone--

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I yelped. Turning around, I saw Sora, grinning back at me cheekily. "Oh, hush."

* * *

"Yuffie?" 

I tensed immediately. Aw, dammit!

"Yuffie, dear, could I borrow your hairbrush?" I turned around, glancing at the door. Rinoa was standing at the doorpost, trying in vain to untangle a large knot in her silky hair. I was in the middle of changing, much to my chagrin, but oh well. I gestured to my bathroom, and she went in. I continued to change, pulling off my red shirt and tugging on a black tank-top. Then I yanked off my baggy pants and pulled on some olive shorts. Sitting down on my bed, I pulled on tan thigh-high socks just as Rinoa came out of the bathroom. "Oh. You're dressed quite...nicely."

I grunted once. "Yuffie, grunting isn't very prim," Rinoa said. "And where are you going tonight?" Why did she care?

"Rinoa?" came Squall's voice. He, too, came into my room (after I had changed), thankfully. "Oh. Yuffie. Why are you getting all dressed?" Was everyone mistaken? I wore this everyday!

"Hnn?" I murmured. "Oh yeah. I have a date tonight."

"What?" Suddenly, the room air tensed. Leon's eyes narrowed, and he frowned at me. "What?" he repeated.

I grinned, gesturing to myself. "Me. Have. Date. Duhh, Leon," I laughed. Leon didn't stop frowning, though; instead, it seemed to deepen even more. I ignored it, though--must've been my imagination. He crossed his arms and tilted his chin downwards to stare at me. "Reno asked me out. He said that I should kick back and relax. That weirdo. I am the definition of relaxed!" Rinoa smiled brightly, patting me gently on the shoulder as I shied away from her touch.

"Oh, Yuffie, good job getting a date!" Ouch. Okay, that remark just stung. "In that case, let's get you out of those clothes and into something much more elegant. You have beautiful legs, so wearing a skirt will--"

"Ahhh, no that's okay," I said slowly, backing up. Rinoa's eyes suddenly grew crazed and wild, and she advanced on me as I squeaked. Ignoring my pained screams and cries, Leon walked out, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

_Of course she would have a date. She's a normal teenage girl. _

_It's just..._

* * *

**_Third Person Point of View_**

_Ding Dong._

Leon stood, going to the door and opening it slowly as he came face-to-face with Reno. The red-haired man was dressed in a loose-collar white shirt as usual, with a black jacket on top. Grinning, he held up two fingers and saluted at Leon. "Whoa, Leon. What's up, yo?" he asked. Attempting to get in (but being stopped by an angry Leon), he gestured inside. "Is Yuffie in there?"

"KYAH! NO RIBBONS, NO RIBBONS, PLEASE, RINOA!" Reno's eyes widened as the man hurriedly brushed past Leon and went inside.

"Yuffie! Are you okay?" called Reno, beginning to walk inside, before Rinoa came out, smiling. "Whoa. Yuffie, I don't remember you looking like _that_ earlier today..." Reno raised an eyebrow, confused, as Rinoa shook her head, mouthing 'She's inside.'

"Yuffie, dear, come out, please!"

"NEVER! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!" came the embarrassed shout from inside her bedroom. Rinoa crossed her arms, shaking her head, and Reno grinned.

"Yuffie, if you don't come out, we're going to miss the bloody zombie movie!" Reno called. He heard a muttered 'dammit' before Yuffie came strolling out, making both his and Leon's eyes widen. The girl was dressed as they had never seen her before: in a dress. It was a simple black dress that cut off at her knees, with small silver leaves making an embroidered pattern at the very bottom. In her ebony hair was a midnight-blue ribbon that pulled back her short hair, leaving some small bangs to frame her face. Reno let out a small whistle; Yuffie looked absolutely stunning.

"You're...in a dress..." Reno said dumbly. The mauve-eyed girl scowled, but the movement was dispelled by her frantic blush.

"Shut up. Let's just go and hurry, okay? I wann see the damn movie," hissed Yuffie, crossing her arms in a very 'let's-go-now-before-I-die-of-embarrassment' way. Leon was still staring, and his stormy-eyed gaze was beginning to make Yuffie feel uncomfortable. "Leon, you're kind of freakin' me out."

Leon shook his head, smirking teasingly. "It's only because for once you actually look like a girl."

Another scowl.

Reno pulled off his jacket and placed it on Yuffie's shoulder. "It's cold outside." Another brilliant blush.

Leon scowled this time. _Hmph. I hope Reno's a complete jerk on the date. That way, Yuffie would immediately want to come home, running into my arms--whoaaaa, okay, where did that come from?!_

"Let's just _go_, okay?" Yuffie muttered. Tugging the jacket on, she smiled at the soothing warmth that engulfed her, and waved at Leon. "Later, Leon." The name still sounded so foreign and strange coming from Yuffie's lips. "See ya, Rinoa." **Translation: I **will **get you back for this.**

"Of course, dear. Have a good time." **Translation: Just try me. You look like a dear princess, sweetie.**

"Have fun," Leon muttered gruffly. **Translation: Be back early, or I will murder you, Reno.**

"We will!" Reno called, leading Yuffie out. **Translation: Please don't kill me.**

Yuffie waved slowly to Rinoa and Leon, and she sighed heavily, turning around. Reno seemed to notice this as he opened the car door for her, closing it as she got in and getting in the driver's side. "You okay?" No answer. "I know you love Leon, Yuffie." Still no answer. "But for tonight, let's just have fun, okay?"

A small smile rose on her lips. "Yeah..."

"'Atta girl. Just forget about it for tonight, and let's do this!"

* * *

**_Yuffie's Point of View_**

Deep, heavy breathing. _"Hanh-hanh-hanh!"_ The slow, creaking of a door.

Damn. The stupid woman turned around, and in seconds she became a bloody pulp on the floor. I heard the seat next to me shift as I glanced at Reno, raising an eyebrow. "Something wrong?" I asked, frowning.

Reno smiled. "Nothing, Yuffie. It's just...you know...when people go to a horror movie, they don't usually cackle like a maniac, yo."

"I can't help it. It's hilarious," I replied softly.

A woman in front of us turned around, holding up her index finger and hissing, "Shhh!"

Apologizing softly to her very quickly, Reno leaned near me. "Well, generally, people don't find brains splattering across the screen 'hilarious.'"

"Well...they're stupid!" I hissed, chuckling.

"Shhh!" the woman said again. I narrowed my eyes.

"Sorry," Reno said very quickly. Then he turned his attention back to the screen, where the same woman was being feasted upon by hundreds of ashen zombies.

"Is it bad that I find this funny?" I inquired, the sound of flesh ripping covering my sentence. Well, almost.

"SHHH!"

I snapped. "YOU KNOW, SOME PEOPLE FIND IT RUDE TO INTERRUPT A PERSON'S CONVERSATION!" I yelled.

Before I knew it, the theater was entirely silent, staring at me as I stopped, flushing a bright crimson. Beside me, Reno was trying to muffle his laughter in his hands as he shook, chuckling profusely. I stared. "Ah, uh, er, I'm sorry for the interruption," I apologized, coughing once before I sat down and hid my face in my hands. Reno was still shaking with laughter as I punched him on the shoulder, ignoring the indignant "ow!" that came with it.

"You-I can't believe-" Still laughing at me. After straightening up (due to some well-aimed punches from me), Reno grinned and ruffled my hair. "You're pretty fun, Yuffs. We should have done this earlier."

I glared at him. "Shut up. That was all your fault anyway. I was having a perfectly good time laughing until you interrupted me--"

The woman turned around for the last time. "**SHHHH!**"

Reno tensed immediately, glancing at me with wide eyes. "No, Yuffie," he whispered under his breath. "It's not worth it." My fists tightened into clench-holds. His mahogany eyes widened even further. "Yuffie, you'd better not--"

Too late.

My fist shot out and rammed that woman in the face, making her cry out as she fell out of her seat and rolled down the aisle, her scream of pain being muffled every time her mouth met the carpeted floor. "Oh. My bad," I said, recovering from my anger.

A few minutes later, we were being "escorted" (more like thrown) out of the theater.

"So...how many places have you been banned from _now_?" Reno asked, snickering. He didn't seem to be angry at all that we were thrown out; merely amused. _Much more easy-going than Squall--er, Leon._ He grinned. _But still not Leon._

"Not that many!" I replied, feigning insult. Reno raised an eyebrow. I sighed, closing my eyes and beginning to count. "The grocery store, the weapon's shop in the mall, and the fire department. But, uh, the theater's only temporary, since we weren't technically banned." When I reopened my eyes, I found Reno squatting on the floor and laughing again. I kicked him in the butt once. "Shut up!"

"Ow!" yelped Reno. He stood up, and I noticed just then how _tall_ he was.

"Oi, why are you taller than me?" I demanded randomly. "You shouldn't be taller than me!" Reno raised an eyebrow.

"Well what do you want me to do about it, Hime?" asked Reno, snickering as I crossed my arms, 'hmph!'-ing.

"You should chop off your head," I deadpanned, perfectly serious.

Reno raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, uh, okay, no." He grinned. "But I _can_...do this!" He picked me up immediately, making me cry out in surprise as he piggy-backed me. (Luckily, my dress was long enough that it covered my butt and my thighs).

"KYAHHH!" I cried out, laughing crazily. "R-Reno! Let me down!"

"Why? You said you wanted to be taller!" replied Reno as he walked around, purposely going underneath signs so I had to duck several times. "Watch your head!"

"You're doing this on purpose, you bastard!" I yelled, falling silent as a sign smacked me in the forehead. Damn, he wasn't lying. "Reno, put me down!!" I was giggling.

"Never!" he declared. "I'm going to carry you to the pizza parlor like this." Sighing with defeat, I let my chin rest on his right shoulder. This reminded me of when Squall used to carry me. "'Ey, you haven't fallen asleep, have you? If you drool on my shirt, I'm going to drop you." I swatted him on the shoulder, grinning.

"Shut up. Now, onward to the pizza parlor, my trusty steed!"

Reno grinned. "Of course, Miss Knight."

And onward we went.

* * *

Continued in the next chapter. :)

XD

Hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
